Friday trading completed a pattern of last week’s cash market,substantially mimicking the price movement during the precedingweek: strong at first, leveling off and then softening aroundmidweek, and capped off by a mild rebound for most weekend numbers.

Apparently the weather was getting warm enough in the East togenerate cooling load that caused prices to shrug off a mildlysofter screen during the morning. Prices ranged from mostly flat inthe Midcontinent/Midwest to less than a nickel higher in the GulfCoast, Appalachia and Northeast.

Friday’s softness tended to be concentrated at western points,where previously hot weather was cooling off a bit and virtuallyall nuclear plant outages were ending. The biggest price drops ofabout a dime occurred at the Southern California border andPG&E citygate, even though neither of the state’s two majorldcs declared a high-linepack OFO going into the weekend. Declineswere generally a nickel or less in the Rockies and Southwestbasins.

Quotes were edging lower in late deals at many points,especially in the West, and a marketer expects numbers to “crater”today based on the screen’s behavior Friday. It spent the morningonly slightly lower, he said, but took a dive in the afternoon towind up the day more than 8 cents down. That should be reflected innegative cash market psychology today, the marketer said.

A Midwest trader quoted Michigan Consolidated citygates almost anickel above his Consumers Power deals. Supplies in the Michconservice area are relatively tight this month, he said, due toPanhandle Eastern maintenance that caused the pipeline to shut inits #MCON meter interconnecting with Michcon through May 30 (seeDaily GPI, April 27).

A producer reported being limited in his injections intoQuestar’s Clay Basin storage facility because it had reachedmaximum injection capability. That could cause problems thisweekend, he said, because he was seeing a lot of Rockies gas beingbought for storage Friday.

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