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The cash market remained in a softening mode for the most part Wednesday, but only a couple of declines exceeded a dime and some points, particularly in the Rockies and at the Southern California border, registered moderate gains.

Only two weeks after it had launched its friendly takeover bid of Gulf Canada Resources Ltd., Conoco Inc. reported on Wednesday that the Canadian Commissioner of Competition issued an advanced ruling certificate to the company, allowing the acquisition to go forward without the requirement of any further approvals under the Canadian Competition Act.

FERC cited only one California power supplier for selling electricity during Stage III emergencies in May at prices that exceeded the allowed limit established by the Commission.

With summer and the expectation of hotter weather only days away, California regulators last week took several tiny steps aimed at squeezing more megawatts into the supply mix this summer and shoring up financially troubled Southern California Edison Co., the utility hovering on the edge of bankruptcy despite all the good news being spread around by state officials this week.

The “unprecedented” high natural gas prices in the three-month period from November 2000 to January 2001 impacted not only natural gas liquids prices, but impacted how liquids were valued, according to a report by the Calgary-based National Energy Board. NEB said that as a result, NGL prices are “expected to continue to be influenced by both oil and gas prices.”

FERC’s decision to mitigate prices only during Stage I, II and III emergencies will provide effective relief in the months ahead, said Commissioner Linda Breathitt yesterday, given that it’s very likely that California “may be in the stages for a lot of the summer.”

The May aftermarket began at price levels considerably below first-of-month indexes in nearly all cases, and several traders advised against anyone holding their breath while awaiting an upturn of any significance. They cited a screen plunge Monday that was about twice as large as any of last week’s single-day drops, a general near-term weather outlook that remains on the benign side, and expectations of another big storage injection report (Lehman Brothers is projecting 70 Bcf).

Like an old wooden roller coaster that ratchets its way to the top only to plunge back to earth in a matter of seconds, natural gas futures free-fell yesterday, as traders liquidated weak length acquired over the last several weeks. The gut-wrenching session left the prompt May contract 26.8 cents lower at $5.248.

In only six months since going live with its full spectrum of over-the-counter (OTC) products, Online trading platform IntercontinentalExchange (ICE), has made a significant impact on the energy and metals markets. The company said over 42,000 trades have been made on ICE since it commenced trading with a combined notional value of $70 billion. Trading volumes on ICE have been growing exponentially with average daily volume in March up 33% from February.