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After all the winter storm excitement in recent weeks, themarket appeared to be growing calmer Wednesday yet still managed tokeep pushing prices higher. Most of the upticks were between anickel and a little over a dime, with the Northeast remaining thebastion of dollar-plus increases.

Southwest Gas Corp. has sued Oneok, Inc. and Southern Union Co.following what it called “Oneok’s unjustified attempt to cancel themerger agreement between it and Southwest Gas.”

Natural gas futures resumed trading Tuesday right where theyleft off last week as traders pressured the market higher in twodistinct buying surges. The first one came at 10:00 a.m. (EST),when February opened a penny above last Friday’s $2.35 high onreports of the coldest air of the season for the Northeast U.S. Thesecond wave of buying came near the close, in a local-led attemptto push the spot month above its 40-day moving average at $2.385.In the end that push was only half-successful; February was able topunch through its 40-day average, but was unable to settle aboveit. The contract closed up 6.1 cents at $2.383 amid light volume ofjust 43,581.

Even having achieved hurricane status, Irene proved to have nomore “hype” for gas prices left in it. Cash quotes Thursday fell adime or more at most eastern points and a little bit less in theWest. Gulf Coast numbers tended to drop a nickel or so from theirearly morning highs, one trader said. That resulted in the anomalyof him getting identical $2.67 pricing for an early sale inTennessee Zone 0 (South Texas) and a late sale at Transco Station65 (South Louisiana).

After failing to completely fill a chart gap left from lastweek’s precipitous decline, the futures market slipped loweryesterday as bears were victorious ahead of weekly storage data.The October contract was hardest hit, suffering a 6.5-cent declineto finish at $2.612 amid average trading volume.

With only a day left before the capacity now held by DynegyMarketing and Trade on El Paso Natural Gas opens to bids for nextyear, parties are continuing to fight over the legality of theoriginal contract.

After gapping 4 cents lower on the open Thursday, the May HenryHub futures contract quickly prompted eager buying as locals andfunds jumped in to take advantage of the downturn. The contractjumped all the way to a new three-month high of $2.090 beforeprofit-taking triggered a sharp retracement. May ended Thursday’sregular session up 2.5 cents from Wednesday’s close.

With seven scheduled days left in the present legislative session, an amendment aimed at simplifying the assignment process in Georgia’s gas deregulation law is steam-rolling its way through the legislature. House Bill 822 passed through the state House of Representatives with a 164-0 vote last Tuesday, and after a brief stay in the hands of the Senate Finance Committee, it is on its way to the Senate floor for approval.

With seven scheduled days left in the present legislativesession, an amendment aimed at simplifying the assignment processin Georgia’s gas deregulation law is steam-rolling its way throughthe legislature. House Bill 822 passed through the state House ofRepresentatives with a 164-0 vote on Tuesday, and after a briefstay in the hands of the Senate Finance Committee, it is on its wayto the Senate floor for approval.