Weekend

A systemwide entitlement against overtakes that began Dec. 19 onNorthwest remained in effect going into the holiday weekend.Northwest said Wednesday it would continue to operate under a Stage1 entitlement at 3% because it had not seen sufficient improvementin system conditions. However, as of Wednesday the entitlement waslifted on points south of Kemmerer (WY) Station.

Sumas prices were subsiding Monday from their sky-high levelsgoing into the weekend, but the same severe cold front that hadgoosed Sumas as high as $25 Friday caused a moderate supply crisisin Northern California that pushed PG&E citygates up to $10 andMalin to $5. Most points in the overall market rose between anickel and 50 cents as an Arctic cold front was expected to leaveFlorida as about the only warm area left in the U.S. and Canada bytonight.

The futures market gave back some ground early in the dayFriday, but then managed to rebound late to trade to either side ofunchanged for the day. That enabled the December contract to settlefor the second day in a row at $2.553. Estimated volume was amoderate 47,537.

All the gas flowing to the Florida peninsula was cut off overthe weekend after a lightning strike Friday afternoon caused a fireand pipe rupture at Florida Gas Transmission’s Station 15 nearPerry, FL, and knocked out all downstream service. The 24-inch,30-inch and 36-inch mainlines that converge in the station yardwere affected.

Cash prices emerged from the weekend with widespread gainsMonday. Most were of the small-to-medium variety at 2-6 cents, buta scorching West tended to see a lot of double-digit increases. SanJuan Basin and the Southern California moved in near-lockstep,rising about a quarter each. However, a basis relationship gap ofnearly 50 cents between the two points remaineduncharacteristically wide compared to traditional levels,reflecting the inroads made by Canadian and Rockies supplies intothe California market in recent years.

Fearing a weekend threat to system integrity from oversupply,Sonat implemented an OFO Type 6 effective Saturday (July 25) untilfurther notice. The OFO carries tiered penalties of up to $15/dthfor positive imbalances exceeding 8% of allocated deliveries.

Activity at the New York Mercantile Exchange resumed after thelong holiday weekend Monday, and apparently traders hit the marketwith one primary objective in mind: to sell. The spot Augustcontract opened at what turned out to be its daily high of $2.43,and ended up falling 7.4 cents to settle the day at $2.365. Anestimated 32,810 total contracts changed hands.

The July contract closed out the week on a positive note aslight short-covering and position squaring bolstered the market6.5-cents to settle at $2.035 on Friday. July was not the only bigwinner, with nearby August also coming to life. August was up 7.3cents bringing the 12-month strip to $2.329.

Traders returned Tuesday from a long weekend to find a much morerobust May cash market than they had left behind Friday. Many hadbeen impressed by the strong recovery of the June Henry Hub futurescontract Friday after it briefly dipped under $2, a Texas marketersaid. “We were immediately up to Friday’s highs as trading begantoday.” Weather demand wasn’t much of a factor as cool butcomfortable temperatures reign in the Midwest and Northeast marketareas, he added, “but there were still plenty of buyers up there.”