Prices kept getting softer for the most part Thursday, but the declines were considerably smaller than those of the day before and an occasional flat point worked its way into the mix. Most drops were in single digits as they ranged from a couple of pennies to 15 cents or so.

With chilly temperatures due to recede from the Northeast from Friday through the weekend, general weather fundamentals will be weakening further. The exception is a stormy cold front that will enter the Pacific Northwest Saturday and proceed on into the northern Rockies and Upper Plains as the weekend comes to a close. Elsewhere heating load will be scarce, but predicted highs in the 80s and 90s in the desert Southwest could generate some cooling load.

The Energy Information Administration reported a storage injection of 44 Bcf for the week ending April 8. The volume dovetailed with overall prior expectations but could be considered bearish because it was much bigger than year-ago and five-year average comparisons. However, after an initial sell-off following the report, the screen rebounded — largely in concert with soaring petroleum product futures — to realize an eventual gain of 9.1 cents on the day.

It was kind of hard to rationalize the oil market’s strength only a day after crude inventories were reported to have risen for the ninth straight week. But although crude dipped below the key psychological level of $50/bbl at one point, traders said support at just above $50 had buyers flooding back into the market.

Rising quotes in the energy futures complex made it more difficult for cash gas traders to estimate Friday’s market direction. “The fundamentals obviously are not there,” said a Houston-based marketer, but he expected physical gas to start a little higher Friday and then take further cues from there.

A Gulf Coast trader commented, “You’d think that in deals for weekend flow, especially with moderate weather and lower industrial demand, prices would keep softening, but who knows?” Thursday’s rebounds in energy futures may translate into small cash gains Friday, he said. He thought the storage report was “about what the market expected” and he wasn’t sure if it could be considered either bearish or bullish. The trader called Thursday’s spot market activity “boring.”

A marketer reported that it was “still kind of cool” in the Upper Midwest, which was probably creating a smidgen of heating load “but not a lot.” She said she could tell that not everybody had turned off their furnaces until next winter yet. Her company bought a little Michigan citygate gas Thursday, although a coworker “was thinking maybe we should wait and get a lower price for the weekend,” she said. “But with the screen going higher today [Thursday], I’m not sure if we will.”

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