Crews were already starting to leave platforms Thursday in theMobile Bay area, but it was hard to tell from cash priceperformances, which ranged from flat to down about a nickel.Perhaps that was because virtually no shut-ins are occurring yet, aTexas trader suggested.
Softer
Articles from Softer
Storm Threat Fails to Impress Softer Cash Markets
Overall the cash market Thursday decided one bearish storagereport in the hand was worth more than two tropical storms in thebush. But although nearly all points checked in as flat to downabout a nickel, sources said the softness probably would have beenquite a bit greater if it hadn’t been for September’s thirdstraight weekly storm threat to Gulf of Mexico production,especially in light of the screen’s nickel-plus drop.
August Softer Except for California Border
Buyers appeared to be winning most of the price standoffs inlate bidweek business Thursday. Michigan citygates were down to thelow $1.90s after deals had been done earlier in the mid $1.90s, amarketer said. Another felt it odd to see Michigan trading at aslightly negative basis for a change after hitting plus 24-25 insome cases last winter. But several traders agreed there’s nomystery to the basis weakness; “it’s all that storage” in thestate, one commented. We’ll continue to see Michigan beingdiscounted relative to Chicago deliveries for quite a while, againfor the storage reason, he said.
April Flat to a Little Softer; May Still Lackluster
Flatness and mild softness dominated the late-April cash marketMonday. Enough heating load was being generated in the Northeastand Midwest to keep citygates and a number of field pointsessentially unchanged from Friday. Most of the downticks of 2-5cents again occurred in the West, where mild temperatures wereprevailing.
Price Slide Levels Off With Only Slight Softness
Cash markets settled down for the weekend Friday with flat toslightly softer prices prevailing. Most of the declines of 2-4cents were concentrated in the Gulf Coast and Appalachia/Northeast.