Flat to moderately higher prices predominated in a quiet Mondaymarket in which some were out on holiday. The larger advances ofabout a dime or more were concentrated in the Rockies and Southwestbasins.

Lingering chill from the weekend in parts of the U.S. and strongincreases in the energy futures trading complex at Nymex helpedsome points recover a bit from Friday’s big losses. Crude oilfutures jumped by a dollar due to political tensions in the MiddleEast, one marketer said. However, any budding bullishness wastempered by forecasts of warm-ups due to start around midweek andby a quiet tropical storm outlook in the Atlantic.

Activity was generally sedate with many Canadians observingThanksgiving Day and some Americans off for Columbus Day, amarketer noted. He was able to trade one intra-Alberta package atC$6.40, up nearly C20 cents from Friday; he attributed the uptickprimarily to higher gas futures.

Gulf Coast and Northeast quotes stayed much stronger, but aboutmidway through the session began dropping for no apparent reason, aNortheastern utility buyer said. Perhaps people began thinking moreof warmer temperatures later this week, he suggested.

Another factor may have been expectations by the buyer and acouple of other sources that this week’s AGA storage figure islikely to rival the relatively large ones of the last couple ofweeks. “We expect at least the same [78 Bcf] or higher, which wouldtake some of the ‘air’ out of this overinflated market,” one tradersaid.

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