A mild rally continued Tuesday for end-of-February swing pricesin most markets outside California, where all three major pricingpoints were united for a change in substantial declines.Non-California points generally ranged from flat to more than adime higher, but most of the upticks were less than a dime.

A winter storm penetrating the midsection of the U.S. andlingering cold temperatures in the Northeast were the primaryreasons for mostly small price increases, sources said, but astronger screen on the April contract’s initial day as prompt monthalso played a part. A producer speculated that a smidgen of storageuncertainty might also re-entering the market as many tradersanticipate that today’s AGA report may represent a new increase inthe year-on-year storage deficit.

A Texas-based risk manager thought Tuesday’s screen run-up ofnearly 20 cents and the smaller cash rises were related toend-of-month cash-out “opportunities” in the cash market. Also, hesaid, the near-term weather outlook became more supportive forprices after a couple of private forecasting services indicatedmore snow is due in the first five days of March.

A Canadian trader who saw a Malin range of more than 80 cents,said prices there started high due to cash-out levels but tanked tobelow $6 at the end.

A Texas intrastate source said March bidweek numbers were”creeping up a little” from Monday, which he attributed mostly tofutures strength.

Previously several sources had indicated they were going intoMarch slightly on the short side, expecting a fairly weakaftermarket. But there seemed to be a mild shift toward modestlength Tuesday, although as one marketer noted, “I’m a little bitlong, but can get out of it [position] in a hurry if necessary.” Anaggregator also reported slight length, saying, “We’re seeing’seasonable’ weather for early March, so that means still chillyand blustery for a lot of areas.”

A producer expects swing trading to be very active today andthroughout March “because so few people are doing much in the wayof baseload deals.” The fact that March weather “has always beenextremely unpredictable” also should contribute to aftermarketactivity, he said.

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