Across

In the first week of enrollment in Pennsylvania’s ElectricChoice Program, 1.1 million electric customers across the statesigned up to participate, the Pennsylvania Electric Associationsaid yesterday.

Cash prices across the board followed through on Monday’s Nymexrise by gaining a dime (or more in some cases) yesterday, andexcept for the Alberta market, nobody had any plausible fundamentalreason to explain the changes. Ranges continued to tighten fromlast Friday’s and Monday’s wide-open spaces, a marketer said. Hethinks the market will continue to be range-bound “until we getsome cooling load.” Supply and demand are currently well balancedand storage inventories are far ahead of last year’s, so he doesn’texpect the gas market to heat up until the weather does, “and thatmay not happen until June [futures] is off the board.”

Weekend prices were down by as much as a dime or so almostacross the board Friday. Although the screen’s almost imperceptibledrop provided no further impetus for cash softening, the decreaseswere widely expected as cold areas started warming and warm areasstarted cooling.

Cash prices rose by a nickel to a dime virtually across theboard Monday in what sources saw as “purely a weather play.”Liquidity was a bit tighter than usual as many traders hurried tofinish and head for this week’s trade fair in Houston, one pointedout. Also, a fair amount of gas had already been committed throughthe end of the fair, he said.

Cash prices for the weekend were down almost across the boardFriday, succumbing to mild weather and lower weekend demand.However, noting the late rebound in the Henry Hub futures contract,a marketer thinks that set the stage for a modest rally in cashnumbers today. He looks for Midcontinent pipes to move back up intothe low $2.10s.