Old Man Winter maintained his grip on the Lower 48 during the Feb. 14-18 period, keeping natural gas demand elevated and prices on the rise. Led by the Northeast, NGI’s Weekly Spot Gas National Avg. climbed 36.5 cents to $4.730/MMBtu.

Futures prices also ended the week higher thanks to a much colder forecast for early March. Despite losing some steam late in the week, three straight days in the green were too much for bears to overcome. The March Nymex futures contract closed out the week at $4.431, up 23.6 cents from Monday’s settlement.

With the latest winter storm ushering frigid temperatures and snow, gas markets rallied by more than $1.00 week/week in some parts of the Northeast. Iroquois Zone 1 cash jumped $2.190 to average $7.945, while Tenn Zone 5 200L picked up...