Regional heating demand is expected to heighten along with colder temperatures in the Mountain West and snow over the Northern Plains this week, helping to counter warmth elsewhere across the Lower 48 and fueling a long-awaited rally on Tuesday in natural gas futures. Over the prior six trading sessions, the prompt month shed nearly 50 cents.

Markets

The December Nymex contract settled at $2.949/MMBtu on Tuesday, up 9.0 cents day/day. January climbed 7.4 cents to $3.073.

NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. advanced along with the blasts of cold, rising 19.5 cents to $2.450.

“Weather systems with rain and snow will sweep across the West and Northern Plains with chilly highs of 20s to 50s for locally stronger demand,” NatGasWeather said. The system took hold Tuesday and was expected to...