Cash prices staged a broad-based retreat Monday, giving up 3-5cents at most Eastern points with Western declines tending to belarger at a nickel or more. The market lost some of last week’sfundamental support as a warming trend started to develop in theWest, sources said. In addition, although the Henry Hub futurescontract for May later reversed field and achieved an overall gainfor the day, its weakness in the morning rubbed off on cashtrading.

“I bet a lot of people are scratching various parts of theiranatomies wondering why this screen is so high,” said aMidcontinent trader of the afternoon rebound in futures. Whenscreen momentum gets going, cash follows along pretty soon, headded, so he expects cash prices to hold up either flat or a bithigher today.

Although it was still fairly warm in the South Monday, gas pricesshould lose some more basis support as regional temperatures cool offthis week, a producer said. However, Zone 2 prices into Florida GasTransmission (high $2.00s) again topped the Gulf Coast, not onlybecause gas demand for peaking power generation remained strong in theFlorida peninsula but because the pipeline’s entire upstream Zone 1will be shut in today through Thursday (see Daily GPI, April 9). One trader reportedhearing FGT-Zone 2 offers at $2.12 but wasn’t sure how much gas mighthave traded at that level.

Intra-day trading was heavier than usual, according to aNortheast trader who thought utilities in the area might haveunderestimated their weekend needs and were having to catch up onsupply. Appalachian and Northeast citygate numbers fell only 2-3cents.

The fact that NOVA continued to restrict firm service deliveriesat the Eastern Gate to 94% of normal capacity was causing supplyproblems, a marketer said. Whatever intra-Alberta gas was able toget through the provincial border export point held its valuefairly well, trading mostly flat in the C$2.50-51 area, he said.The same could not be said of another Canadian exportpoint-Sumas-which succumbed to the drop in Western heating loadwith a price fall of about a dime. The domestic product intoNorthwest fell almost as far (about 7 cents).

For several sources, Monday seemed like a return to the slow,quiet trading mood that characterized much of March’s activity.Undoubtedly many would agree with the Midwestern source whoobserved, “It’s a slow afternoon, there’s beautiful weather here,and I should be out golfing.”

General Midcontinent basis for May was quoted at minus 10-11. ACalgary trader said he was doing intra-Alberta deals for May atC$2.54, about C3-4 cents above Monday’s April swing.

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