A break in the flat price pattern that has dominated the overallcash market during February came Tuesday, and appropriately it wasto the downside, where many sources had long expected prices to beheaded because of mild weather, a softening screen and a massivestorage surplus for this late in the winter season.
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East Accounts for Most of Small Price Declines
Mild softness dominated Monday’s cash trading in spite of a bigdrop on the futures screen. Drops of up to a nickel or so tended tocluster in eastern markets, where late-autumn weather is relativelymild. Meanwhile, flatness prevailed in much of the West as theNational Weather Service is predicting below-normal temperatureslater this week for the Rockies and interior parts of SouthernCalifornia.
Late July a Bit Higher; August Edges Slightly Lower
Small gains dominated the late-July incremental cash marketWednesday. Positioning for cash-outs was the primary reason forfirmness in the Midcontinent and Gulf Coast, according to aproducer; “there’s not much else to base it on.” Predictably,incremental business tended to get shoved onto a back burner as theHenry Hub futures contract for August expired.
Few Points Still Left on the High Side of $2
Very few points were left trading above $2 as flat to lowernumbers dominated the cash market Wednesday. Citygates in theNortheast and Midwest (just barely) and the Appalachian pipes(again, just barely) constituted most of the $2-plus survivors,although some Louisiana points such as Henry Hub, Sonat and TranscoStation 65 recorded $2.00-even quotes at the high end of theirranges. Although quotes straddled the $2 level, Houston ShipChannel was the rare Gulf Coast point still averaging above $2.
April Flat to a Little Softer; May Still Lackluster
Flatness and mild softness dominated the late-April cash marketMonday. Enough heating load was being generated in the Northeastand Midwest to keep citygates and a number of field pointsessentially unchanged from Friday. Most of the downticks of 2-5cents again occurred in the West, where mild temperatures wereprevailing.
Cash Prices Level Off in Quiet Trading
Flatness dominated at nearly all market points Thursday, andseveral sources anticipate a softening mode today due both to thescreen’s decline Thursday and the usual slump of weekend usage.Also, a marketer said cooling weekend temperatures in Texas shoulddampen some of the recent air conditioning load in the state.
Snow Has Differing Price Effects in Northeast, Rockies
Flatness again dominated Tuesday in the majority of cashmarkets. However, Northeast citygates dropped by about a nickeldespite heavy, wet snow or cold windswept rain in the region thatone weather forecast service expected to persist overnight.