Though the May Henry Hub futures contract eventually settled fora small gain of less than a penny, it was the screen’s morningflirtation with the $2.15-17 area that got most of the credit for astrong performance Tuesday by the cash market. Cash rises tended tofade out going westward to virtually nothing in California trading,but virtually all eastern points were up at least a nickel and inmany cases saw increases approaching a dime.

With last week’s western chill now fading into memory, buyers inthe region know there is plenty of supply available again, amarketer said. That means a stronger early screen was essentiallythe only thing keeping prices there from falling Tuesday, he added.

Two Gulf Coast producers disagreed on which way cash trading wasgoing as the session proceeded. One perceived some late strengthbased on a short supply squeeze. She reported getting the sensethat buyers weren’t finding suppliers quite as eager to sell as thebuyers would have liked. But the other producer said prices startedhigh and then fell off at the end. He expects prices to startfalling again soon, saying now-disappearing cold weather in theWest has been the main reason for April’s price strength so far.

If gas prices get much higher than they are now, a northeasternelectric utility buyer seriously doubts whether she would make anynew purchases for May. Gas is getting very close to fuel oil pricelevels at the burnertip, she said, and higher prices for gas likelywould mean fuel-switching at the company’s power plants.

The casualty toll in last week’s explosion of TECO Energy’scoal-fired Gannon power plant near Tampa, FL (see Daily GPI, April 9), now stands at threedead and 49 injured after a second worker died of his wounds in ahospital. A news report Tuesday said four of the plant’s sixgenerating units, representing a little over half of its1,200-megawatt capacity (earlier reports had given the size as 1,270megawatts), were back in service. TECO officials blamed worker errorfor the explosion, saying pressurized hydrogen used to cool turbinesshould have been drained before the 6 unit was taken off-line formaintenance.

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