Outweighed

There were a few gains in cash prices Friday, primarily in the growing-hotter Northeast, but they were strongly outweighed by softness in the rest of the market. The West was uniformly lower by double-digit amounts as excess supplies, OFOs and a general cooling trend weighed on regional pricing.

Scattered points that were flat to a little more than a nickel higher Tuesday were heavily outweighed by losses of up to 20 cents or so. But despite heating load being fairly scarce outside the north central U.S., the futures advance of nearly 20 cents was believed likely to boost most if not all prices Wednesday.

Despite fundamental support remaining weak for the most part, prices rose at nearly all points Wednesday. A few cases of flat numbers in the West were the exception to gains that ranged from a couple of pennies to around 15 cents. The largest upticks tended to be concentrated in the Midcontinent.

Major rebounds at El Paso-San Juan and the Southern California border were joined by only the Permian Basin/Waha market and a couple of Rockies points in realizing price increases Monday. Other points ranged from flat to as much as a dime lower, but most of the losses were modest at around a nickel or less.

The previous day’s screen weakness, along with a dearth of weather-related load outside the interior West and western portions of the South, were cited as Wednesday’s chief swing price depressants. Except for flat to substantially higher numbers for a few Rockies points, San Juan Basin and Southern California border, quotes fell by anywhere from about a nickel to a quarter Wednesday. Losses in the teens were most common.

Mostly moderate price declines concentrated in the Gulf Coastand Northeast were outweighed Wednesday by small to large increasesin other markets. The biggest gains were in California and theRockies/Southwest, while Transco Zone 6 (NYC) took the biggest hitof 65 cents.