Prices realized double-digit increases across the board Wednesday, propelled by rising heat levels in the West, chillier weather in the Midwest and the previous day’s 12.1-cent advance by June futures.

Gains that ranged from a little more than a dime to about 90 cents were by strongest in the Rockies/San Juan Basin market. Rockies points were continuing their recovery from Monday’s plunges, while El Paso-San Juan quotes, which had continued to sink Tuesday, rebounded in response to hotter weather in California and a slight easing of transportation capacity constraints.

Although analysts have been saying that recent robust storage additions indicate that the market is not missing Independence Hub production that much, the news that majority hub owner Enterprise Products Partners has changed its prognosis for restoration of operations from mid-May to “the first half of June” (see related story) lent some support to both the futures and cash markets Wednesday. Hub output had been averaging about 900 MMcf/d when a leak in the export pipeline was discovered in early April (see Daily GPI, April 10).

Largely due to the Independence Hub news, Nymex’s June natural gas contract gave support to Thursday’s cash market by rising 17.6 cents in a new disconnect with falling petroleum product futures (see related story).

El Paso’s San Juan-Blanco pool recorded the day’s biggest gain while the Bondad pool’s uptick was a little more sedate at about 55 cents. California demand was heavy based on forecasts of warm to hot weather throughout the state. Usually it’s the inland portion that tends to see the sizzling conditions in summer while the coast remains fairly moderate. Sure enough, the predicted highs for Wednesday in Sacramento and Fresno were 100 and 98 degrees, respectively. But San Francisco also would feel the heat when peaking around 90, and even Los Angeles residents might break a sweat Wednesday with an expected high in the low 80s.

The Pacific Northwest was getting in on the cooling load act too, with Portland, OR forecast to see a high in the mid 80s Wednesday. And the Rockies contributed to overall western gas demand with lows in the 40-degree area due.

A stormy cold front will be quashing a significant amount of cooling load across the northern half of the South Wednesday as highs in that area will be limited to the mid 70s in most cases. Sections closer to the Gulf Coast will continue to see temperatures in the 80s, however.

A cooling trend will continue in the Midwest, although lows in the 30s will remain confined to areas along the Canadian border. Most of the Northeast will barely notice slightly cooler temperatures Wednesday, but lows can still reach the 30s in such areas as Albany, NY and upper New England.

A marketer in the Upper Midwest said she was concerned about how high and still-rising natural gas prices were making it difficult for her company’s customers, which include hospitals and schools. Of course, she conceded, they have to buy gasoline too, and that may be hurting them even more than the cost of natural gas. She said she was having to turn on the furnace at home for “a little while” each morning this week.

An industrial end-user advised that with Chicago’s nighttime lows expected to be in the 40s next week, GasMart attendees (https://gasmart.com/gasmart2008/) should bring something a little heavier than a windbreaker. A fleece-lined jacket probably would be about right, he said.

SunTrust Robinson Humphrey/the Gerdes Group said initial expectations suggest that a storage injection in the 85-95 Bcf range will be reported for the week ending May 9.

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