Thursday’s market was a near-repeat of the one the day before: moderate softening in the East but closer to flat in the West. The main differences were smaller eastern losses (virtually all declines were around a dime or less Thursday) and the fact that a few western points, primarily PG&E-related, were able to eke out modest gains.

Once again it was at Northeast citygates, where mid-December temperatures remain unseasonably mild, where many of the larger price drops of about a dime were clustered. Prices sagged in the middle of trading, according to a regional buyer, then saw some rebound near the end but never made it back up as high as where they had started.

A buyer in the Florida market also reported some run-up in late purchases that she attributed to a supply squeeze. Some people in the state are complaining about it being too warm there and not allowing them “to get into the Christmas spirit,” the buyer added.

A Midcontinent trader reported Panhandle Eastern numbers remaining steadily in a mid to upper $2.30s range for him throughout the morning. He said he was buying much of his supply from Midwest utilities, leading him to believe that “they must be starting to unload their baseload while prices are still above index.” Panhandle Eastern’s average Thursday was about a dime above the GPI first-of-month index of $2.26, but Chicago citygates were running only a couple of cents or so above index.

Even with El Paso’s low-linepack OFO remaining in effect, Southwest basin field prices weakened substantially, which probably reflected falling Southern California demand due to a warming trend, a marketer said. Border-SoCalGas, one of Wednesday’s rare flat points, was down almost a nickel yesterday.

However, a winter storm moving through the upper West Coast toward the Rockies generated flat to about a nickel higher pricing at the PG&E citygate, border-PG&E, Malin, Sumas and Stanfield. PG&E still had not issued an OFO but projected linepack falling slightly below its minimum target levels while cash was trading during the morning. However, by that afternoon the utility had revised its forecast to indicated slightly-above-target linepack today and rising through the weekend.

An eastern utility buyer feels certain that further price declines will dominate today’s trading, citing the light heating demand and slacking of industrial load over a weekend.

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