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In what traders called a purely screen-driven cash market,prices achieved double-digit increases at virtually every pointexcept for PG&E citygates, which rose by a little less than adime.

Cash quotes again moved higher Monday but mostly in smallamounts of less than a nickel, reacting to new strength in the gas,crude oil and heating oil futures contracts and getting some extrasupport from colder weather in major northern market areas.

Fueled by the fundamental one-two of bullish storage and weathernews, the natural gas futures market rose Thursday as tradersunloaded shorts and added to longs. After dropping a dime lowerWednesday, the January contract opened higher at $2.53 Thursday andnever looked back as prices climbed into the mid-$2.60s. The promptmonth finished near its daily highs, up 15 cents to $2.636.

Producers and marketers have asked FERC to send Natural GasPipeline Co. of America (NGPL) back to the drawing board to makethe changes to its auction tariff procedures that were ordered bythe Commission.

Technical factors can, and often do, send prices hurling in adirection contradictory to what underlying supply and demanddictate. While this confounds dyed-in-the-wool fundamentalists anddelights technicians, it can also backfire. Yesterday was one ofthose days.

Two would go by sea, and now one would travel on land, makingfor three brand new pipeline projects targeting the Floridapeninsula and the state’s substantial growth in power generationgas demand.

In a stunning move designed to send a message to otherwhite-collar criminals, a D.C. federal court judge last weekremanded Nicholas J. Bush, former president of the Natural GasSupply Association (NGSA), to a halfway house pending sentencing ontwo felony charges for embezzling $2.8 million from the producergroup. The judge took this action after Bush pleaded guilty to thecharges.

After a spirited rally Tuesday that propelled the Augustcontract to its highest level since July 15, the market took abreather Wednesday as traders elected to wait on the sidelinesahead of fresh fundamental news. The prompt month finished down 0.6cents at $2.394 in choppy, range-bound trading.

Following last Friday’s near price-stalemate, bears were quickout of the blocks yesterday, and within the first hour of tradingthe June contract reached it’s lowest level since April 19. Themarket received a slight buying boost before the noon hour, butsellers were at it again yesterday afternoon, carving out a $2.145low in choppy trading activity. The June contract finished at$2.176, down 4.9 cents for the session.