“I’ll be out of a job if they keep this up,” said a Westerntrader Wednesday, referring to the lack of volatility in yetanother in a long string of flat cash market performances. He didmanage to find sort of a silver lining: “I can’t make a good or abad deal in this market.”

Though many points again registered no price movement, the onesthat did see change were slightly softer and clustered mostly inthe Gulf Coast and Appalachian producing areas. To one Gulf Coastmarketer, everything was coming off a bit. “This does not lookgood,” he said. Another Gulf trader noted that in his experience,flat cash periods about three weeks long usually occur twice ayear.

An East Coast marketer, commenting on the spring-like weather inhis region, expressed hope that a cold front due to arrive aroundthe weekend might give prices a little upward jolt.

“There’s no more excitement at Aeco” now that NOVA has liftedrestrictions at Alberta border export points, a player in theCanadian market said. Intra-Alberta quotes have settled back intothe mid C$2.20s, about where they were before a NOVA rupture sentthem about C15 cents higher Monday. A Calgary trader said he hadbeen using the supply tightness caused by the rupture as anopportunity to get good value for stored gas.

Despite the cold front spreading eastward into the nation’smidsection, one Houston source looks for at least another week ormore of mostly range-bound cash trading, pointing out the upcomingPresidents Day holiday weekend followed by a conference in Houston.

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