Frigid

Other than some frigid conditions in the western half of Canada and along some parts of the northern U.S. border, the cash market had little in the near term on which to hang a hatful of higher prices Monday. The return of industrial load from a weekend off was about the only immediate minor offset to generally cool to moderate temperatures in most areas.

A frigid weekend in many sections was becoming a distant memory for many people who thought they had already seen too much winter already. Spot gas demand was dropping, and it was quite possible that more storage supplies were being substituted in its place, resulting in substantial declines in numbers across the board Tuesday.

A wave of frigid winter air forecast to sweep out of northwestern Canada and Alaska next week could bring single-digit and below-zero high temperatures to much of the United States through the third week of January, AccuWeather.com said Thursday.

Following record-cold December temperatures, AccuWeather.com chief long range forecaster Joe Bastardi said he sees the frigid trend extending coast-to-coast through mid- to late January.

Most locations recorded price increases — a majority of them in double digits — Monday as frigid conditions were forecast in most of Canada and the U.S. Some low-linepack issues and wellhead freezeoffs contributed to firmness in the West, and the return of industrial load from a longer-than-usual holiday weekend was also a bullish factor. But the previous Wednesday’s 0.3-cent gain by expiring December futures was considered insignificant.

Blasts of frigid cold that have roared across the country over the last few weeks culminated in new natural gas and electric usage records across the country, including in Con Edison’s New York City centralized service area and a new peak-day delivery record on Williams’ 10,500-mile Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line (Transco), which runs from South Texas to New York.

The blast of frigid cold into the Northeast over the last few weeks culminated in new natural gas and electric usage records in Con Edison’s New York City centralized service area.

A temporary, albeit modest, upcoming respite from frigid conditions took the wind out of the Northeast’s recent price spike sails Tuesday, causing citygates to plunge by more than a dollar in many cases. However, small gains remained in play for most of the rest of the market as cold temperatures continued to dominate the overall weather scene.

With a siege of frigid weather in the East not only showing little sign of letting up soon, and even strengthening by New Year’s Day, and the South having returned to lows on either side of freezing over the weekend, multi-dollar spikes in the Northeast led an across-the-board advance by the spot market Monday.