Markets

Prices in nearly all markets outside the Rockies moved a littlehigher Tuesday, but late retreats at many points indicated theaftermarket upticks fueled by producing-area heat may be subsiding.

Traders saw a down-then-up pattern in many markets Monday asprice ranges tended to remain volatile, though not as large asduring Friday’s meltdown. The ups were smaller than the downs inmost cases, leaving average prices ranging from barely softer to asmuch as a dime lower. Malin saw the greatness weakness with a fallof about 15 cents, even though weekend OFOs at the Northern andSouthern California borders had ended.

Some traders saw little change in April post-weekend pricingMonday, but others reported small to moderate increases. Thatsurprised a few sources because of hearing talk last week that manybuyers planned to wait until Monday to make their purchases,expecting lower prices after futures had expired.

Despite the growing interest by foreign markets and potentialinvestors in the proposed LNG portion of the Trans-Alaska GasSystem (TAGS), the May 22 deadline set by FERC for start-up of theconstruction of the export project will not be met, says thesponsor of the proposed facility. Yukon Pacific Co. L.P. has askedthe Commission to extend the deadline, which was set back in 1995,until May 2001, saying that a refusal by FERC would be a “serioussetback” and might cause it to abandon the LNG project altogether.

Cash prices were mostly higher Monday, but there was littleconsistency from market to market. Western points mostly rangedfrom flat to down a nickel, while Northeast citygates andAppalachian pipes jumped by a nickel or more as snowy conditionsstill lingered in some areas. One forecasting service said the fiveinches of snow dumped in the New York City area over the weekendwas 10 times what it had received all winter.

Cash markets settled down for the weekend Friday with flat toslightly softer prices prevailing. Most of the declines of 2-4cents were concentrated in the Gulf Coast and Appalachia/Northeast.