Natural gas traders may have had the theme of 1980s sitcom “Three’s Company” playing in their heads Wednesday as they knocked on the door of $3.00/MMBtu gas. With the resumption of maximum exports imminent and weather models adding more demand, they got the job done. The November Nymex futures contract settled 11.0 cents higher at $3.023. December jumped 8.8 cents to $3.348.

Spot gas prices also continued to climb across most of the country, but stronger declines on the East Coast kept NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. flat at $2.455.

With confidence growing that liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports would soon reach their full potential in spite of ongoing issues in two Gulf Coast waterways, futures traders wasted no time in making a run at the coveted $3.00 threshold. 

The...