Consistency

It was a mostly softer swing market Monday, but with very littleconsistency in price movement. New quotes ranged from down around20 cents at Northeast citygates, which tended to see last week’sbiggest increases, to 2-5 cents higher in California, where alow-inventory OFO by PG&E helped boost demand. Other points inbetween were flat to down more than a nickel, with most of thedrops being in the vicinity of a nickel.

The overall cash market was far from a model of consistencyWednesday. While prices rose by up to a nickel at Gulf Coastpoints, Northeast citygates were no more than flat to up a penny.In contrast, while Michigan and Chicago-area citygates saw gains of2-3 cents, field prices in the Midcontinent were mostly flat around$2.10. However, a Midcontinent producer found it “a littlesurprising” that trading ended on a modestly strong note with latedeals tending to be near the top of small ranges.

Cash prices were mostly higher Monday, but there was littleconsistency from market to market. Western points mostly rangedfrom flat to down a nickel, while Northeast citygates andAppalachian pipes jumped by a nickel or more as snowy conditionsstill lingered in some areas. One forecasting service said the fiveinches of snow dumped in the New York City area over the weekendwas 10 times what it had received all winter.

The overall price trend was up again Tuesday, but the market washardly a model of consistency. Some points, such as the Northernand Southern California borders and PG&E citygates, barelymanaged to maintain flatness or eke out small gains, while otherssuch as Waha and Northeast citygates continued to surge upward byas much as a dime or more. A marketer reporting Transco Zone 6(NYC) topping $2.60 said she hadn’t expected to see those kind ofnumbers again until next fall at the earliest.