Fade

Although some of the newfound cooling demand will already be starting to fade Wednesday in the South, cash prices were able to keep rising Tuesday at most points because of the residual heating load and cooling load that remained in northern and southern market areas, respectively, and the previous day’s 30.1-cent advance by May futures. But flat to about 35 cents lower quotes at quite a few locations and a major screen retreat signaled that the bullishness with which the April aftermarket began may be ending quickly.

With heating load starting to fade a bit in northern market areas and having nearly disappeared in the South, the cash market saw mixed pricing Thursday that included many flat points and leaned to the downside in a majority of cases. Because of colder weather than expected and linepack shortfalls in some instances, the Rockies continued to be much stronger than the overall market, but Thursday’s gains were considerably smaller than those on Wednesday.

With support from colder weather earlier in the week starting to fade, many points were flat or close to it in a Wednesday market that saw prices move in both directions. Gains that ran as high as about US15 cents (or C25 cents in the case of Westcoast Station 2) were in a slight majority, while losses ranged from a couple of pennies to about a quarter.

As prospects for a quick infusion of new reserves from the Arctic fade, Canadian expectations of natural gas prices are on the rise and markets are encouraging them to believe they are right with their diagnosis that supplies are tight.

As prospects for a quick infusion of new reserves from the Arctic fade, Canadian’s are expecting higher gas prices and markets are encouraging them to believe they are right with their diagnosis that supplies are tight.

The cash market recorded a very mild rally Monday in which a few points managed gains in the teens, while the majority ranged from barely lower to a dime higher. Intra-Alberta saw the only significant decline of nearly C10 cents.

A 2003 bet of C$80-100 million (US$60-75 million) that TransCanada PipeLines’ entry will win the northern pipeline race is starting to make the nation’s top natural gas transporter nervous.

A 2003 bet of C$80 million to $100 million (US$60 million to $75 million) that TransCanada PipeLines’ entry will win the northern pipeline race is starting to make the nation’s top natural gas transporter nervous.

With energy futures softness from the day before weighing on Wednesday’s cash market, there wasn’t enough air conditioning load left across the southern tier of states to keep prices from experiencing mostly mild losses. Quotes ranged from flat to down about a quarter; most losses were less than a dime.