With the exception of hefty double-digit upticks at California points, the rest of the cash market was mostly an array of flatness mixed with small increases and decreases Tuesday. Expectations of another large storage injection figure this afternoon and the approach of cooldowns in key market areas such as the Northeast had several sources looking for general softness today.

Despite a heat wave broiling the Northeast and expected to last through today until cooling rains begin tonight, regional citygates ranged from flat to only a few cents higher. However, although he didn’t buy any himself, one trader said he was hearing of intraday Transco Zone 6-New York City gas selling for $4 because of the heat. That was about half a dollar above the average for next-day swing.

It’s getting ready to heat up to more than 100 degrees pretty soon in California’s Central Valley, so at least one trader anticipates the California market remaining strong. He observed that since a high-linepack OFO last weekend, PG&E now is projecting linepack levels near its minimum target level over the next few days.

Regardless of where the screen is trading, Henry Hub cash seems to have found a comfort level generally within 2-3 cents to either side of $3 lately, a Gulf Coast marketer said. Noting that crude oil futures for September delivery (the August contract has already expired at $24.45/bbl) have risen above $26 as the OPEC nations are expected to announce a significant production cut soon, he is hearing more and more talk about dual-fuel utilities and end-users preparing to switch back to gas from fuel oil.

The low-pressure system that threw high winds and heavy rains at Florida Monday proved to have about as fleeting an impression on the gas market as Tropical Depression 2 a couple of weeks ago. The system was already starting to weaken Tuesday as it moved slowly northward into the Florida Panhandle and southern Georgia, one forecasting service said.

However, the National Weather Service offered a bit of encouragement for bullish types, predicting that next week above normal temperatures will blanket the U.S. from the Rockies eastward except for the peninsular portion of Florida.

A lot of offers for August business are out there, a marketer said, but little is getting done prior to the next AGA report. She predicts that basis between the intra-Alberta and Malin/PG&E citygate markets “will blow out for August because intra-Alberta will remain influenced by the weak screen while California’s agricultural canning/drying season is getting started a couple of weeks late” and thus will keep Golden State demand high.

A Midcontinent/Midwest marketer said all of the deals he has done for August so far have been at discounts to index. Relative to index, he quoted Chicago citygates at minus 6-4 cents for Peoples, minus 4-3 cents for Nicor and minus 4-2 cents for NIPSCO, adding that Panhandle Eastern also got done at minus 4-2 cents.

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