Dominated

Generally moderate softness dominated the weekend market. With pockets of modest gains tucked in here and there, a large majority of points ranged from flat to down about 15 cents Friday, although most of the losses were confined to single digits. However, San Juan Basin numbers stood out with a plunge of about 35 cents.

Flatness or small declines of about a nickel or less dominated the market Wednesday. Sharply higher San Juan/Rockies numbers, along with mild firmness at Northern California points, constituted the primary exceptions to the overall price trend.

Except for minor softness in the Midcontinent/Midwest and Northeast areas, the East was dominated by flat pricing Thursday. The market tended to be a bit weaker at western points, which ranged from flat to down more than 15 cents (PG&E citygate).

The flat pattern that had dominated prices at most points from last Thursday through Monday was broken up Tuesday with upticks that tended to range from about a nickel to a little more than a dime. A few scattered points remained basically unchanged again, while variations from the overall trend included a drop of a nickel at Transco Station 85 (Mobile Bay) and a gain of about a quarter at Transco Zone 6-New York City.

As sources had predicted, mild softness dominated Thursday’s cash market. Some points were flat, and a large majority registered declines of about a nickel or less. Only a few scattered points saw drops of about a dime or more, and several of those were associated with the Chicago market.

Flatness dominated the cash market Wednesday as most points showed little price movement and the remaining small increases and decreases tended to cancel each other out. If anything, however, there was a slight bias to the downside. Most of the upticks were in the West, while Gulf Coast and Northeast points saw more of the larger downticks.

Mostly moderate softness dominated the cash market Tuesday, as a falling screen and moderating weather were the primary influences. Price movement ranged from 1-6 cents down at several western points, while generally larger drops in the East went from about a nickel to down about a quarter on the Appalachian pipes. The PG&E citygate managed to eke out a small gain.

Much of the cash market “followed the screen” essentially nowhere as flatness dominated at a majority of points Thursday. However, there were pockets of price movement here and there. The Northeast and PG&E-related California points weakened by as much as the teens, while San Juan/Rockies/Pacific Northwest quotes rose by a nickel or more. In addition, several scattered Gulf Coast and Midcontinent points defied the overall flat trend with upticks or downticks of up to a dime.

Prices emerged from the weekend to resume the slide that dominated much of last week’s market. Only the California border-SoCalGas managed to show a gain for the day as a terribly weak screen, continued lack of fundamental support and expectations of another big storage injection report this week combined to push nearly all points down between 10 and 20 cents Monday.