Except

Except for continued major recoveries by Rockies points from the sub-dollar depths to which they had sunk Monday, there was little price movement in the cash market Wednesday. Rockies gains ranged from about 70 cents to more than $1.50, with only Kern River not realizing an increase of a dollar or more. Elsewhere flat numbers were common and very few points moved either up or down by more than a dime.

Cash prices reversed course at most locations Tuesday, slipping anywhere from a few cents to more than 20 cents, except at a number of western points that posted 10- to 26-cent gains, including Northwest Pipeline, Opal, CIG and Kern River, which reported low linepack. Trading ranges were extremely tight, coming in at 5-10 cents in many markets.

Except for flat performances at Kingsgate and Texas Eastern M-2, weekend prices dropped at all points in Friday’s trading. Support from a strong screen Thursday and from very hot weather continuing across the South and in much of the West was unable to overcome the decline in power generation load in key northern market areas and the weekend’s typical loss in industrial demand.

With Tropical Storm Alberto rapidly becoming just an afterthought for the natural gas industry (except for the reductions of power generation demand that its heavy rains were causing in the eastern end of the South), most points bowed to the lack of significant cooling load in northern market areas by recording moderate declines Tuesday.

The two FERC nominees agreed on most energy issues during their first appearance before the Senate energy panel Thursday, except on whether the U.S. should look to foreign countries now to supplement its natural gas supplies.

Except for one essentially flat point (Texas Eastern-East Texas), prices continued to fall across the board Thursday. The screen drop of nearly 30 cents the day before and burgeoning storage inventories again weighed on the cash market. However, prospects of rising heat levels in northern market areas likely were responsible for Thursday’s declines being considerably smaller than those on Wednesday.

Except for a smidgen of flatness at two Northwest Pipeline points, prices increased across the board Thursday as freezing temperatures — in some places approaching zero degrees — threatened to spread from the already frigid Midwest into the Northeast and to a limited extent into parts of the South.

Quarterly utility earnings are expected to be weak for both gas and electric companies except for those with significant oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) operations or energy marketing and trading that could have benefited from high and volatile commodity prices, according to analysts at Merrill Lynch.

Except for 90-degree-plus high temperatures in parts of the West, fundamental weather demand remained subpar in most markets Thursday. Yet cash prices managed to solidify and strengthen the mild rally that had begun the previous day.