Other than the screen-related drop in prices Wednesday, it’sbeen a pretty slow and uneventful bidweek, a number of GPI sourcesagreed. Things had settled down Thursday and June gas was tradingin about the same area as it had following the futures expiryWednesday, a Midwest-based marketer noted. However, another sourcesaid Southwest and Southern California border prices continued tosoften a bit further Thursday.

Cash numbers for June look weak in comparison to the Julymarket, a marketer said. Another trader provided some support forthat outlook by reporting he paid $1.95 for a June/July ElPaso-Permian package, 10 cents above his cost for June-only gas.

A trader who markets gas on behalf of a group of Texasproducers said several of them had locked in June-August prices for”a lot of gas” back in April when the Nymex 12-month strip wasaveraging around $2.60, “and they’re sure glad they did” now thatcurrent pricing is so much lower.

A big marketer noted that the storage situation “is quitebearish, but that is already factored into the market.” He looksfor electricity prices to start playing a bigger role in the gasmarket, “and those [power prices] are starting to get out of hand.”However, a Western trader said not only is the West Coast remainingcool, but hydropower supplies are plentiful and helping to keep gasprices down. A couple of other sources agreed that the Californiautilities were noticeably low-profile buyers during bidweek. Onesaid she thinks the utilities were willing to take their chances inthe daily aftermarket.

With little to influence it beyond some heat in the South, Mayincremental pricing was mostly flat with a few points up or down1-3 cents. A remarkable standout was ANR-Southeast, which jumpednearly a dime into the mid $2.00s to put some distance between itand the pipeline’s Southwest leg, flat in the mid $1.90s.

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