With prospects of hotter weather in several regions before the workweek begins Tuesday, the market Friday was stronger than one might have expected for a long holiday weekend. Most points were within 2-3 cents up or down, but some locations jumped nearly a dime while others fell as much as 20 cents.

Most of the softness was concentrated in the Rockies, San Juan Basin and California. Despite warm to hot temperatures in much of the West, a high-linepack OFO by PG&E cast a pall on the regional market. In addition, Kern River reported it was “currently operating with extremely high linepack” and said it was imperative that shippers “take delivery of quantities that are scheduled immediately.”

Rains continued to put a cap on high temperatures in the Southeast Friday, but they likely will be starting to fade toward the end of the weekend. Texas had already shed most of its own lengthy siege of precipitation, and that put Katy and the Houston Ship Channel among the day’s “hot” markets with upticks of nearly a dime and about a nickel respectively.

However, a marketer thought the intrastate Texas market was somewhat deceptively stronger. Several suppliers sold whatever they had fairly quickly, and after they ran out of gas, people had to bid up what was left, he said. But now that the heavy rainstorms have come to an end, prices should be rising most of this week as air conditioners start cycling on more frequently, the marketer added.

For reasons not readily apparent, Michigan was another strong market with citygates going up nearly a dime. One source said the state was enjoying “great weather today [Friday]” and forecasts indicated that highs would not get above the low to mid 80s through next weekend, so she had no idea why Michigan citygates would be higher for the weekend.

Due to Northeast weather expected to remain moderate through about Sunday before beginning a slow rise in temperatures, a marketer in the area said he saw some demand for Tuesday-only deals. “It will be hotter around then, but not by very much,” he said. He credited aggressive storage buying as helping keep citygates from sinking Friday, and also noted that some people got caught short with more heat approaching, and they bid prices up a bit in late deals.

An East Coast utility buyer commented that she had been hearing about a “hot, hot, hot” summer for a long time and added, “Maybe we’ll start getting it [this] week.”

In a Friday note to clients, Citigroup analyst Kyle Cooper said he looks for the upcoming storage report to feature “a larger build than this week [93 Bcf],” possibly rivaling the early June weekly injection of 102 Bcf.

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