During one of the hottest weeks of the summer so far, natural gas prices rallied in the final days of June. New England prices led the way given pipeline maintenance in the region, lifting NGI’s Weekly Spot Gas National Avg. up 44.5 cents to $2.630 during the four-day June 26-29 trading period for June gas delivery.

Natural gas futures traders proved ready to get the Independence Day holiday started, igniting a rally in the August Nymex futures contract on the first two days at the front of the curve. August futures closed out the week at $2.798, up 13.0 cents over two days.

In the spot market, ongoing pipeline maintenance led to volatility for some markets in the final stretch of June.

On the East Coast, Algonquin Citygate shot up $3.095 week/week to average $5.830, though...