Lower natural gas production and stronger export demand may keep bulls in the driver’s seat in the weeks and months ahead, but Mother Nature refused to sit back and not have her say. A warmer turn in the latest weather forecasts pushed the November Nymex futures contract back below the coveted $3.00/MMBtu mark on Friday, shedding 3.6 cents to $2.971. December dropped 7.7 cents to $3.195.

Markets

Spot gas prices were mostly lower Friday, but colder weather moving into the East lifted prices in the region. NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. climbed 2.5 cents to $2.490.

Given Thursday’s supportive storage data and increasing export demand, it was interesting to see how weather would factor into current market dynamics. There have been hints of warmer weather creeping up in earlier models,...