Last week’s trading wound up wound up with a reversal ofregional price trends. Whereas in the first couple of days of theweek Western points were recording gains while the stagnant Easternmarket was mostly flat to a little lower, the West was falling hardFriday but the East was flat to 2-3 cents higher. The Easternfirmness came as a surprise to some traders who had expected mildweather and the usual slump in weekend load to yield modest pricedeclines.

The California market was especially weak as people chilled intemperatures that rarely exceeded 70 degrees, even in steamy LosAngeles. Considering a PG&E high-linepack OFO was continuing atleast through Saturday, Malin probably would have fallen lower thanthe $1.50 area if prices hadn’t gotten some support from thescreen, a marketer said. SoCal Gas did not declare anOvernominations Day for Saturday, but the possibility of one forSunday remained, according to a producer.

Lack of California demand had its impact in San Juan Basin, downabout a dime into the low $1.40s. People “were almost trying togive gas away for the weekend,” said a Southwestern electricutility buyer who regretfully had to refuse a late Blanco offer inthe low $1.30s because he had nowhere to go with the gas. WeekendCalifornia PX electric prices were moving below $10/Mwh, he said,and the exchange was trying to shed power to other areas. He washearing numbers of $14/Mwh for Monday, but said even that mighthold up with Los Angeles temperatures in the 60s.

The bloom was off the Rockies gas rose also as prices fell backinto the low to mid $1.30s. CIG continued to top area numbers, butafter doing earlier CIG non-DJ Basin deals in the low $1.40s amarketer was able to pick up a last-minute package at $1.36.Intra-Alberta softened a few cents as maintenance on Viking causedgas to back up on TransCanada and NOVA, a marketer said. He wasn’tsure if all his intra-Alberta nominations for the weekend wouldflow.

The screen run-up was the only explanation for Eastern pipesfailing to emulate the West’s softening, several traders said.Except for some lingering producing-area heat, it certainly wasn’tthe weather, which remains mild to chilly in the Northern marketareas, they said.

A buyer doing some early July business reported basis of minus3-5 at the Southern California border and minus 39 for SanJuan-Blanco. He had gotten one fixed-price border bid at $1.90.

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