Cash prices were dropping for the most part Wednesday as manyhad expected, and there’s no reason not to expect more softeningthrough the rest of the week, several sources said. They had plentyof evidence to back up their prediction: forecasts of moderatingheat in the South by the weekend, a falling futures screen and abearish AGA storage report exceeding 100 Bcf in injections.

It’s actually cold enough in the northern tier of states to getfurnaces running, said a trader in the Upper Midwest, “but notenough to matter much to gas prices.” And a marketer said therecent record-setting heat wave will begin easing off in NorthTexas as early as today.

Transportation constraints made intra-Alberta one of the raremarkets to stay flat. Some of the largest declines of a dime ormore occurred in the Southwest basins and Waha, already faced withlow demand from the West Coast and starting to feel the pinch ofcooler weather approaching the intrastate Texas market. Lately”it’s been Texas or bust” for Permian Basin gas, a marketer said.

The Gulf Coast pipes really weakened as it seems a lot oftraders in the region are long on gas now, a source said. Anothertrader perceived long supplies at the citygates, such as Chicago.Some of the weaker pipes in Texas are going to break below $2 today”and that is for sure,” he added.

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