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After starting out Monday below Friday’s low, May natural gas futures zigzagged during the session between $7.17 and $7.32, unsure of their next move. However, the prompt month did settle 6.7 cents higher at $7.309, just shy of the day’s high.

Noting that this winter will end up being the second worst season in the Pacific Northwest in a series of six straight with below-normal water levels, a group of public- and private-sector energy providers in Portland, OR, Thursday collectively urged retail power customers throughout the region to conserve electricity and shift their use to nonpeak demand times this spring and summer.

As a result of below normal temperatures in much of its market area thus far during March, Transco said, shippers have created a significant due-pipeline imbalance. The current forecast calls for a return to normal or above normal temperatures over the Easter holiday period, Transco added, and it is concerned that shippers “will attempt to resolve their current imbalance positions at a time when market loads are expected to be moderate.” The combination of warm temperatures and customers’ desires to pay back imbalances over a short time raises concerns about the pipeline’s ability to efficiently operate its system during the holiday weekend. To keep from having to issue an OFO or Operational Concern for the weekend, Transco asked that shippers with due-pipeline imbalances plan make-up transactions to resolve their imbalances ratably over the remainder of the month. Also, it will not schedule any excess storage injections over the March 25-28 period.

The cash market relied on new cold fronts forecast for Tuesday in the Northeast and South, along with predictions of temperatures well below early-March norms in the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes sections of the Midwest, to push prices higher at nearly all points Monday. Delayed support from Friday’s futures gain of nearly 9 cents and the restoration of industrial load from its usual weekend slump aided the climb.

After spending almost the entire session trading below Tuesday’s $6.68 settle, April natural gas futures moved to the plus side in the final hour-and-a-half of trading on Wednesday on continued strength in the petroleum futures market.

Looking to bust out of the $5.95 to $6.27 trading range, traders of March natural gas futures explored lower on Monday, breaking below the psychological $6 barrier once again. Despite reaching a low of $5.97, the prompt month climbed in the afternoon to settle at $6.093, unchanged from Friday’s close.

Northern Natural Gas said it called a System Overrun Limitation for all market zones Saturday due to forecasts of minimum temperatures below zero in all zones.

Due to below-zero minimum temperatures spreading to all of its market area zones, Northern Natural Gas is applying a System Overrun Limitation day notice that previously had been confined to Zone E/F to all three zones (ABC, D and E/F) Wednesday.

Due to below zero minimum temperatures in its Zone E/F service area, Northern Natural Gas declared a System Overrun Limitation day for Saturday in that zone.