Conspicuous

As they often are, Northeast citygates were conspicuous in an otherwise close to flat market Tuesday by giving back much of the large gains they had realized a day earlier. Most points saw little change as the Northeast and Midwest are due to see modest warm-ups Wednesday while the South begins turning colder.

Multi-dollar drops at Northeast citygates were conspicuous amid continuing declines at most points Friday. Heating load was dropping due to moderating weather trends in several regions; storage use continued to supplant spot gas buying and the weekend loss of industrial load was a factor.

As a producer had predicted Thursday, most weekend prices stayed fairly close to flat Friday in a mixed market. The conspicuous exceptions were Northeast citygates, which all rose by more than 30 cents as a Nor’easter bore down on the region.

A couple of instances of flat numbers in the Northeast were conspicuous amid an overall softening Thursday. Weak fundamental weather support and falling energy futures Wednesday and Thursday prompted losses ranging from a little less than a nickel to 15 cents or so, with most declines weighing in at a dime or more.

A few flat points, mostly in the Gulf Coast, were conspicuous amid an overall softer market Thursday. Weak weather fundamentals in most areas and the associated lack of electric utility load were responsible for declines ranging from a little under a nickel to a little more than 20 cents, sources said.

Triple-digit plunges in the Rockies and San Juan Basin were greatly conspicuous among general flatness elsewhere in Wednesday’s trading. Only rarely did non-Rockies/San Juan points stray more than a few pennies up or down from unchanged as most of the nation was expected to continue seeing a mix of belated winter and springlike weather through at least Tuesday.

In a topsy-turvy trading session conspicuous only for its lack of bullish leadership, natural gas futures slipped lower Wednesday amid two waves of long liquidation. An early afternoon rally was about all the buyers could muster, and it was overshadowed by selling at the market’s open and again heading into its close. March finished at $5.785, down 19.2 cents for the session.

Northeast citygates soared Monday, topping out at $9.00 in New England. That seemed natural, considering that the Northeast and Midwest were experiencing their worst siege of cold so far this winter, and chilly temperatures dominated most of the weather picture elsewhere.

With the conspicuous exception of San Juan Basin, pricescontinued to rise by about a dime or more at most points Thursday.While still firming, the market’s increases were smaller than thoseon Wednesday.