Washington (Platts)--1Feb2013/336 pm EST/2036 GMT

US spot monthly natural gas prices for February decreased by 8 cents, or 2.4% on average, to $3.23/MMBtu, compared with the previous month's $3.31/MMBtu average, Inside FERC's Gas Market Report said Friday.

Most price points with reported deals declined slightly compared with the month before, following on the heels of the NYMEX contract.

The NYMEX February gas futures contract expired at $3.226/MMBtu, down 12.8 cents, or 3.8%, from the January contract's final close of $3.354/MMBtu.

But the Northeast was a mixed bag. Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line zone 6-New York increased by 38 cents, or 6.1%, to $6.63/MMBtu. Algonquin Gas Transmission city-gates, meanwhile, declined by 68 cents, or 6.9%, to $9.16/MMBtu -- still the highest price in the monthly survey.

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Rough storage withdrawals fell below 30 million cu m/day for the first $3.94/MMBtu.

Along the Gulf Coast, Henry Hub decreased by 12 cents, or 3.6%, to $3.23/MMBtu, 0.4 cent above the final NYMEX close. Transco zone 3, meanwhile, dropped 16 cents, or 4.7%, to $3.25/MMBtu.

In Texas, Houston Ship Channel shed 9 cents, or 2.7%, to $3.23/MMBtu.

Major Upper Midwest points traded within several cents of one another in the low $3.40s/MMBtu, down between 9 cents and 13 cents on average. Chicago city-gates declined 9 cents, or 2.6%, to average $3.43/MMBtu for February.

Field zone deals at Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line declined 2 cents, or less than 1%, to $3.21/MMBtu, while Northwest Pipeline Rocky Mountains was flat to January at $3.28/MMBtu.

Most West Coast price points declined, although Southern California Gas was an exception, rising 4 cents, or 1.1%, to a $3.58/MMBtu index for the month. Malin, Oregon, declined 2 cents, or 0.6%, to $3.40/MMBtu, while the Pacific Gas and Electric city-gate shed 6 cents, or 1.6%, to $3.66/MMBtu.

Volumes for IFGMR's February survey rose to 17,851 million MMBtu/d from January bidweek volumes of 12,097 million MMBtu/d. Transactions used in the survey increased to 2,798 from 2,102 the month before.

--Jessica Marron, jessica_marron@platts.com
--Edited by Valarie Jackson, valarie_jackson@platts.com

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