Lacking any impetus from fundamentals or a sedate futuresscreen, the vast majority of points settled down for a level ridein a quiet market Wednesday. The few increases of any size occurredin the Rockies and California and were attributed to supplyconstraints and continuing heavy air conditioning load.

The big cut in Kingsgate capacity that started Wednesday onPG&E Gas Transmission-Northwest (see Daily GPI, Aug. 5)certainly enhanced the value of gas at Stanfield, which was upalmost a dime, a marketer said. The constraint was also being feltat Malin, up by a similar amount to the $2.20 area. Malin quotesgot an extra boost from a low-inventory OFO declared for today byPG&E.

Another source reported being told the outage of the WhitneyCanyon Plant, which feeds into Questar, Kern River and Overthrustnear the Opal Hub, now is expected to last until Saturday.Originally it was supposed to end Aug. 3, he said.

Power generation demand remained strong in Southern California,a trader said, but he saw border numbers slipping from the low$2.40s early on to $2.38 in a late deal.

Midcontinent prices followed a pattern of up early and down latefor little appreciable overall change, according to a marketer. Gasprices are just barely beating fuel oil at Northeast burnertips,said a utility buyer who reported mild weather in the region.

Temperatures are finally moderating a bit in Texas, a marketersaid, noting Dallas had finally broken its unenviable string of 29consecutive 100-degrees plus days. “At this point,” he went on,”it’s the weak market-area demand that is this market’s Achillesheel.”

A marketer looks for Rockies prices to be softer around Novemberthan they might otherwise be due to the Northern Border expansiondelay. Canadian gas that had been expected to head for morelucrative markets in Chicago around that time instead will still besearching for a Western home, he said. The postponed competitionfor market should keep Midcontinent prices higher for a whilelonger and will cause the basis spread between the Rockies andMidcontinent to widen more than it would otherwise, the marketerpredicted. But he considers the spread “all messed up” currentlywith Opal trading a bit higher than such Midcontinent pipes asPanhandle Eastern.

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