This week’s market may have resembled the one of the previous week in starting out with major gains Monday, but it took a lot less time to acknowledge the continuing overall weakness of weather demand as prices fell across the board Tuesday. Even with increases in heating load on tap for Wednesday in such key gas-consuming regions as the Midwest, fundamental support proved inadequate to keep the market from reverting to its losing ways of last Thursday and Friday.
Resembled
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Midcontinent, West Strong Again, Most of East Softer
Thursday’s cash market largely resembled the one a day earlier, with mild softness dominating in the East outside the Midcontinent and the West and Midcontinent continuing to see mostly strong increases. The primary differences were that virtually all western points advanced Thursday, and there were several flat to slightly higher locations in the Gulf Coast and at Midwest and Northeast citygates.
Price Plunge Includes Many Dollar-Plus Dips
Except for the direction of movement, Thursday’s price changes generally resembled those that opened the week. But this time the direction was down — way down — as the market bowed to approaching relief from a devastating heat wave in key northern markets and a slightly diminished threat of Tropical Storm Chris to the Gulf of Mexico production area.
Mixed Pricing Returns, But Volatility Slightly Greater
In a general sense Monday’s market resembled the Tuesday-Thursday trading period of last week in which many points were either flat or not much removed up or down from unchanged. The key difference Monday was somewhat greater volatility; instead of being limited to about a nickel’s movement in either direction, quotes ranged from about a dime lower to about 15 cents higher.
Swing Flat to Slightly Lower; April Numbers Soften
The swing market somewhat resembled a popular breakfast foodWednesday: almost as flat as could be, with a slight lean towardthe softer side.
Softer Market Sees Biggest Drops in Rockies, NNG Points
Much of Monday’s swing market closely resembled that of Friday:flat to down 3-4 cents. But some points were conspicuous withsubstantially larger decreases. Since CIG and Public Service ofColorado ended price-boosting OFOs over the weekend, prices onCIG-North System and Questar fell by a little over a nickel. Thesteepest plunge by far of almost 20 cents came at CIG-DJ(Denver-Julesburg) Basin, which had soared by a similar amountlast Wednesday after PSCo declared a Restricted Delivery Daysituation.
Frigid Northeast Soars, Other Points Bland as Ever
Most of Monday’s late-February market resembled the rest of themonth: a little up here, a little down there, and a lot of flatnumbers in between. Once again the exception was in Northeastcitygates, which went as high as the $2.50s in some instances.