Advance

A winter storm sweeping its way eastward into the central U.S. and Canada, along with prior-day support from the December futures contract’s advance of 28 cents on Monday, were responsible for rising prices Tuesday at most points. Several instances of flat to a little more than a nickel lower, mostly in the Gulf Coast and Northeast, averted a clean sweep of gains.

A prior-day screen advance of less than a dime contended for primary influence on Wednesday’s cash market with generally moderate weather fundamentals and expectations that Thursday morning’s storage report will show that the industry returned to net injection mode last week. The results were mixed, with most points remaining close to flat and few straying more than about a dime up or down from Tuesday’s levels.

In advance of whatever liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies it might send to the United States from the vast Shtokman gas field in the Barents Sea, Russia is sending mixed signals.

The continuation of very hot temperatures in much of North America, with an assist from Wednesday’s futures advance of nearly 31 cents, enabled a rebound at nearly all points Thursday. Several flat to lower points were scattered among gains that ranged from a couple of pennies to about 30 cents.

Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski Wednesday introduced into the ongoing special legislative session three bills intended to advance ratification of a draft contract he negotiated with a trio of producers for development of the Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline (see Daily GPI, May 26).

Prices were mixed but mostly moderately higher in the East Friday as a bit of “storm hype” and the previous day’s screen advance managed to trump slightly milder temperatures and the weekend decline in industrial load. Meanwhile western markets, which are essentially immune to tropical storm price impacts, fell at nearly all points except for flat showings by El Paso-Permian and intra-Alberta quotes and a Waha gain of about a quarter.

Only an advance of less than a dime by El Paso’s Bondad pool in San Juan Basin averted an across-the-board sweep of falling prices Friday. Quotes were pressured lower by dwindling heating load in the East, the previous day’s screen drop of 6 cents and the slump in industrial demand that typically accompanies a weekend trading period.

Encountering colder weather in key northern market areas than they had been led to expect a few days earlier, and also spurred by a screen advance of nearly 20 cents on Tuesday, cash traders pushed swing prices higher at all points Wednesday. Bidweek numbers also were reported to be on the rise.

With a little help from the previous day’s futures advance, spreading cold weather was able to keep prices on the rise at nearly all points Wednesday. Only flat numbers at a couple of Rockies points prevented gains across the board. Otherwise, upticks ranged from 2 cents to about 35 cents.