Natural gas futures flirted early with a loss for the first time this week on the heels of a bearish storage report but quickly turned a corner and rallied again on Thursday as traders fixated on supply/demand imbalances. The June Nymex gas futures contract settled at $8.783/MMBtu, up 36.8 cents day/day. July rose 36.9 cents to $8.841.

NGI Storage Chart

At A Glance:

  • Production falls to 97 Bcf/d
  • Forecasts for mixed demand
  • NGI models draw of 41 Bcf

NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. dipped lower for the first time this week, falling 15.5 cents before finishing trading at a still lofty $8.000.

Markets have rallied from late April through this week on intensifying concerns about supply weakness globally and in the United States. This comes as the summer cooling season nears and demand for American...