Spot

Alberta spot sales have reached C$7/Mcf (US$4.83) and centralCanadian distributors are warning customers to expect an expensivewinter. Analysts see no end to the tight markets. But natural-gasproducers say they have found a way out — tap the Arctic.

Spot gas prices quickly rebounded from the long holidayweekend’s overall softness and made large gains across the boardTuesday. Rocky Mountains/San Juan points led the way with gainsranging from about 20 cents to a little more than 60 cents.

Prince Edward Island, a popular vacation spot off the northerncoasts of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, is looking to get on boardthe natural gas express line running from Sable Island through theCanadian Maritimes provinces.

Prince Edward Island, a popular vacation spot off the northerncoasts of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, is looking to get on boardthe natural gas express line running from Sable Island through theCanadian Maritimes provinces.

It was in like a lion and out like a lamb for March’s debut asthe spot month Friday as traders took the contract higher at theopening bell only to deliver it lower throughout the rest of thesession. March finished down 1.7 cents at $2.532.

Despite the arrival of another severe winter storm — this onein the Midcontinent — the majority of spot points leaned to thedownside Thursday.

Punctuated by a gut-wrenching final 45 minutes in which the spotcontract plummeted, spiked and then fell again, natural gas futuresfinished on a strong note yesterday in a classic short-coveringrally.

Prices responded accordingly Tuesday as just about everythingturned bullish for the spot gas market – chilly to very coldweather almost everywhere, rising futures in three importantcategories (gas, heating oil and crude oil), and expectations of alarge withdrawal volume in this afternoon’s storage report.

It wasn’t difficult to understand why spot prices were going upsharply again Monday when one considers that several new pipelineOFOs related to colder weather joined ongoing OFOs or other systemconstraints (see Transportation Notes). Freezing conditions weresettling into much of the nation’s midsection Monday, with winterstorms expected to penetrate even the Deep South by today. Thepredictable result of such a frigid onslaught was heavy heatingdemand for gas that sent prices higher by about a dime or more onmost pipes. Some points, such as Chicago and Northeast citygatesalong with Upper Midwest deliveries by Northern Natural Gas (demarcand Ventura), achieved gains in excess of 20 cents.