Ranged

Bigtime volatility was the name of the game Friday in the cashmarket. Price changes ranged from more than 20 cents higher at manyLouisiana points to about a nickel lower in Northern California.Ranges often were huge also, exceeding 30 cents in some cases. Anypoint with a high and low separated by less than a dime-well, theyjust weren’t trying hard enough, one source commented.

East-West price tendencies remained at odds Monday. WhileEastern points ranged from flat to down as much as a nickel, theWest mostly was registering increases. Gains were particularlystrong in the California market, where Malin was up by nearly 15cents after PG&E had ended its weekend high-inventory OFO.

Cash numbers finished the week slightly higher as various pointsranged from flat to 5-6 cents higher Friday. It was difficult togeneralize with several regions containing both flat andnickel-higher points. The larger gains were seen at Henry Hub, TGTZone 1, Tennessee Zone 0, Columbia-Appalachia, Texas Eastern M-3and the Chicago citygate.

Prices ranged from flat to down a few cents Wednesday, with mostof the softness concentrated in the Gulf Coast, Midcontinent andChicago citygates. Columbia-Appalachia joined those points indeclines of mostly 3-6 cents, but CNG and Northeast citygates weredown only a penny or two. The declines tended to be attributed to”tracking the Nymex,” as a marketer said.