A number of cash points on Friday made it three in a row as a fair amount of market averages declined. Traders cited the weak screen and lack of bullish fundamentals for the week’s dip.

Price points in the Rockies and California experienced the most declines with most points dropping from a penny or two to 8 cents. Elsewhere small declines were sprinkled in with “no changes” and some points that recorded minor upticks.

Market averages were once again lead by the screen, which remained weak Thursday despite a neutral 76 Bcf storage injection. Winding its way toward expiration Wednesday, the June futures contract on Thursday declined by 5.2 cents to $4.106. The trend continued Friday as the prompt-month contract declined by another 7.1 cents to $4.035.

“The previous week we saw some pretty significant strength in the market and this week was basically the opposite,” said a West Coast trader. “A lot of the back-and-forth in the physical market has to do with the Nymex. We’re really being pulled around by futures. Things were pretty weak at a number of locations on Friday as well.”

The trader noted that maintenance on the Baja Path drove a lot of gas away in California. “A lot of the gas was ending up down in SoCal, so there were probably some higher volumes there,” he said. “Prices there likely reflected this fact.” SoCal Citygate ended up dropping 6 cents to average $3.89 for the weekend and Monday delivery.

As for bidweek, the trader said everyone is getting prepared for Monday. “Last month a majority of the bidweek trading for the Southwest happened on Monday. It was pretty crazy,” he told NGI. “With the way conditions this month are similar, you might want to buckle your seatbelt coming off of the weekend.”

Perception of low prices for natural gas isn’t stopping producers. Baker Hughes reported Friday that the number of rigs actively searching for U.S. natural gas climbed by 18, or 1.9%, to 969. It was the first uptick in three weeks. Only two of the newly activated rigs were in the Gulf of Mexico. The 969 figure is only four rigs shy of the 2010 high of 973, which was recorded for the week ending April 16.

“Bullish hope may spring eternal, but we see a return to above average storage injections in the weeks ahead as keeping a lid on values,” said Tim Evans, an analyst with Citi Futures Perspective.

The analyst added that Friday’s weather updates weren’t helping the bulls either with the near-term forecasts actually “a bit cooler” than Thursday’s take, with somewhat less air conditioning demand.

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