The cash market took a bit of a breather Friday from the uphillclimb that began last Tuesday. Weekend quotes ranged from minimallyhigher to nearly a dime lower, with most of the softnessconcentrated in the Midcontinent, Midwest citygates, Southwestbasins, northern and southern California borders and intra-Alberta.

The overall market might have been more of a flat-to-highersituation if the normal decrease in demand that accompanies aweekend hadn’t canceled out continuing strong load from coldweather, sources said. Before the screen wound up trading flat, itsearly minor drop had only a minor effect on cash.

Midcontinent and Gulf Coast traders reported rebounds near theend of the session as slight supply squeezes developed. “Themorning started out trying to be flat to yesterday [Thursday],”said a Midcontinent marketer, “and then softened to about 6-7 centsdown. But it seemed like people started finding themselves in shortpositions late and had to cover them.” He was doing late deals intoEl Paso-Permian, Waha and ANR Southwest at 3-5 cents above hisday’s averages.

“There were real markets out there that came out buying late,”added a Gulf Coast source. “Everybody was trying to talk this thingdown, but the screen held [at $2.553] this afternoon, and with moreweather expected through most of next week cash prices shouldremain propped up.”

A Western marketer said he had the impression that SanJuan-Blanco volumes were becoming increasingly illiquid because offlow problems.

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