Quotes

With many areas in transition toward milder temperatures again, flat Dawn and NOVA Inventory Transfer quotes were the only exception to falling cash prices Thursday. The previous day’s 27.6-cent drop by expiring March futures added to the bearish mood.

Although cold weather was due to extend into the weekend in the Northeast and Midwest, its price-boosting ability was largely gone Friday. Quotes softened at most points as a warming trend began in the South and the West was fairly moderate for the most part.

With falling temperature trends in key northern market areas being just a preview of colder weather to come, quotes rose at most points Tuesday. The roller-coaster ride in the Rockies continued as the regional market made its third gigantic reversal of price direction in as many trading days, seeing triple-digit increases at all points except Cheyenne Hub.

Uniformity of price change direction made one of its relatively rare (in recent months) returns to the spot market Tuesday when quotes arose across the board in trading for last-of-month flows. A cold front moving into the western sections of the Midwest Wednesday and freezing overnight temperatures in the Rockies and parts of Western Canada had heating load on the rise, and Monday’s 5.1-cent expiration-day increase by November futures chipped in a little extra support.

Uniform direction of price movement returned to the spot market Tuesday after a lengthy absence. Quotes rose across the board, with only one point failing to realize a double-digit advance. The gains were based primarily on a warm spell in the Northeast and the previous day’s 29-cent increase by the October futures contract, which will see its last day of trading Wednesday.

Unified price movement returned to the cash market Friday, and the direction was downward in a big way. Spot quotes bowed to relatively moderate late-summer weather trends in most areas (either existing or in the weekend forecast), prior-day futures weakness, the weekend drop of industrial load and new indications that little storage injection capacity remains with nearly two months left to go in the traditional injection season.

In a move reminiscent of similar extreme weakness in early June, most Rockies points plummeted by more than a dollar Monday and saw low-end quotes dip to less than a dollar. However, the price carnage wasn’t quite as severe as on the trade date of June 4 (see Daily GPI, June 5) when a CIG deal at 15 cents tied NGI’s all-time lowest quote.

Several moderate gains in the Rockies and a few other instances of flat quotes prevented an across the board run of price softness Thursday, but it was clear that the cash market was weakening as a large majority of it recorded falling numbers. Power generation buying for cooling load is dwindling across the southern U.S., and heating load in northern market areas is fairly minimal and largely confined to overnight low-temperature periods.

Soaring Rockies prices, with some pipes going up by more than $3 and topping $7 in their high-end quotes, led a cash market uprising at virtually all points Wednesday. Cold weather in northern market areas and Tuesday’s 32.3-cent gain by May futures were responsible for the general firmness.