Slower

Cash prices kept rising Wednesday but at a considerably slowerrate than on Monday and Tuesday. Most of the new increases werearound a nickel or less, and the Northern California points ofMalin and the PG&E citygate actually fell slightly afterPG&E elected not to extend a low-linepack OFO. Sourcesindicated some retreat is likely today, saying the cash market hadmilked just about all the upside possible out of recent forecastsfor colder weather. In addition, the screen’s decline of nearly adime Wednesday should be a negative influence, they said.

Cash prices continued this week’s slide Wednesday, although thedescent wasn’t as steep as on the day before. Most of the newdeclines were around a dime or slightly more. The few pipes fallingless than a dime tended to be clustered in the Midcontinent.

Cash prices continued their upward direction Wednesday, but at aslightly slower pace than the prior two days. A fading winterblast in the Northern Plains, combined with forecasts of moderatingtemperatures and a softening Nymex screen, eased the punch of thestrong cash market in late trading, sources said.

The perception that there is no need to “rush” natural gasunbundling and customer choice has prevailed in Californiafollowing actions by the state legislature and energy regulators.That allows the major investor-owned gas utilities to prepare formore competition and gain more experience in wide-rangingsettlements that they negotiated with their major suppliers,shippers and marketers.

Perceptions of whether September prices were still fallingFriday sometimes depended on the specific market. A trader in theSouthwest basins said numbers bounced around a bit Friday butessentially had hit bottom late Thursday. But another source saidChicago citygates continued to fall to a low of $1.62.