The cash market, seeing essentially nothing in the way ofdirectional influence, went into a holding pattern Thursday withfew points straying any further than 2-3 cents on either side offlat. A screen drop of just under a penny was deemedinconsequential, and even though some market areas were seeingnear-freezing temperatures Thursday, forecasts of warmer weatherfor the weekend through the middle of next week tempered any buyingenthusiasm.

The warming prospects prompted a Midcontinent marketer toremark, “Wait until the weekend [market today], you’ll see pricesget beat up much worse then.”

Indeed, in contrast to the late rebounds that were beingreported in several areas earlier this week, Thursday trading waspointed downward almost all the way. Quotes that averaged in themid $2.00s in the Southwest basins were diving to the high $1.90sin the late going. And Canadian prices for Sumas and intra-Alberta,which had been standing their ground or even managing increasespreviously, succumbed to the overall market softness. Two tradersreported intra-Alberta prices falling steadily from the mid C$2.70sto around C$2.67.

However, one Calgary source considered it notable that theprovince had withdrawn about 800 MMcf from storage Wednesday, asubstantial amount for this time of year. That gas was needed tomeet NOVA linepack needs due to low field receipts recently, hesaid. “The scary thing is that it wasn’t even really cold[Wednesday]” with Calgary-area temperatures hovering aroundfreezing. “What is going to happen when the real winter weatherhits?”

A big Texas aggregator was finding it hard to get a read onDecember. The producing region is well bid for the basis, she said,but the market area feels very weak. LDCs seem content to rely onstorage gas, she added. ANR-Southeast basis of minus 5.5-6 isstrong compared to a more traditional level of about minus 7-8, theaggregator said.

One trader reported doing December intra-Alberta deals in theC$2.77-84 range. A marketer said he traded Michigan citygates atplus 16 basis Wednesday but was hearing it slightly stronger atplus 17 Thursday. Early calls for Transco Zone 6 deliveries arerunning heavier than normal, according to another marketer.

Going by Northern Border’s latest estimate that its ChicagoExpansion Project will begin service between Dec. 14 and 20, amarketer was pondering his Chicago strategy. There is a marketadage that when everybody else is doing one thing, you should dothe opposite, he observed. But he confessed there is a strongargument for going short on Chicago supplies during bidweek, usingstorage as necessary until the Northern Border gas starts arriving,and then feasting on lower prices from the resultant citygate glut.

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