Advance

The cash market proved to be stronger Wednesday than some sources had expected. Despite the big declines in energy futures the day before and a general dearth of substantial weather load in most regions, most points ranged from flat to up as much as about a quarter. A few Northeast citygates fell anywhere from a nickel to 20 cents, while scattered other points saw declines of about a nickel or less.

Despite overbought conditions and forecasts calling for warming temperatures, natural gas futures finished the week on a positive note Friday as traders bid the market higher in sympathy with cash prices that remain at a premium to futures. There also was apprehension of the release of potentially bullish storage data Thursday. However, the gains were a winter-month-only phenomenon, as advances in February and March were in sharp contrast to losses throughout the rest of the contracts.

Triple-digit gains at most of the Northeast citygates led an overall cash market advance Friday, as forecasts indicated little let-up this week in the severe winter conditions occupying much of the eastern two-thirds of the U.S. and Canada.

Prices rose across the board Wednesday between about a dime and 30 cents in most cases, fueled by the approach of cold fronts in the Northeast and Midwest and feeding somewhat off the previous day’s screen gain of nearly 20 cents. New England citygates were overachievers with upticks approaching half a dollar.

Most Northeast citygates spiked by half a dollar or more Monday, led by a whopping dollar-plus gain to more than $6 in the Transco Zone 6-New York City pool, as sub-freezing temperatures reigned or approached across the northern tier of states as far west as the Rockies.

BC Gas Inc. announced it has received approval in the form of an Advance Ruling Certificate from the Canadian Competition Bureau for its previously announced acquisition of Centra Gas British Columbia Inc. and Centra Gas Whistler Inc. from Westcoast Energy Inc.

In some respects the cash market was all over the place Monday, but for the most part the trend was flat to only a few cents higher. The major exceptions on the plus side were gains of about a dime or more for the Columbia-Appalachia (TCO), intra-Alberta, Northern California and San Juan-Bondad markets. But as expected, Rockies prices got hammered by a major outage on Northwest Pipeline.

Buoyed by hot weather and spiking Northeast physical prices, natural gas futures ended higher Tuesday, as commercial traders continued to favor the long side of the market. After touching the $3.00 mark Tuesday afternoon for the first time since Aug. 1, the September contract ebbed slightly to close at $2.975, a 1-cent increase for the session. With 102,854 contracts changing hands, Tuesday’s heavy volume in the gas pit lent credibility to the up-move.

A moderate advance in weather load got a market response of equally moderate price increases Wednesday. With quite a few points registering close to flat again, a preponderance of the gains were 7 cents or less.