Sumas had the distinction Tuesday of being the first point tosurpass $3 pricing in the current winter heating season, althoughPG&E citygates had gotten as high as $2.92 in the second weekof November (see Daily GPI, Nov. 11). In super-volatile quotes thatranged from the $2.20 area to as high as $3.40 (one source said heheard a $3.50 deal got done), Sumas soared far above an overallmarket that had turned stagnant since Monday’s strong rebound.

A reported 9% FT curtailment on Westcoast’s T-South System (thepipeline could not be reached for official confirmation or anexplanation) was the main cause of Sumas price strength as thatmeant no interruptible gas was getting through, a marketer said.The curtailment is scheduled to end after today’s gas day.Exacerbating that situation was “a little bit of weather” demandfrom the chilly Pacific Northwest/Rockies region, he added. Also,an outage of 50 MMcf/d at Westcoast’s McMahon Plant continued fromlast week (see Daily GPI, Dec. 10). The Kobes Lateral rupture wasrepaired but not yet back in service Tuesday as preparations forhydrostatic testing were under way, a plant spokesman said.

Except for the price fireworks at Sumas, the rebound that hadbegun Monday in the rest of the cash market was grinding to a haltfor the most part Tuesday. New increases tended to be small ornon-existent in many cases, and several Western points in theRockies and California fell by about a nickel or slightly more.

San Juan, Permian and Waha might as well have been one basinTuesday since prices for all three were mashed together in the high$1.70s, one trader noted. San Juan, normally the lowest-priced areaof the three, is still benefiting from California demand, he said,but Permian and Waha quotes aren’t getting nearly as much supportat the other end.

According to a Gulf Coast/Northeast trader, his “financial guyin New York says he’s pretty opinionless” about market conditionsfor the rest of the winter. “We just wish something would happen tobreak the gas market out of its doldrums.”

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