With liquidity wearing thin ahead of the holidays, traders were not looking to take on weather risks midweek despite continued uncertainty in the forecast. The January Nymex gas futures contract settled 5.5 cents higher day/day Wednesday at $3.802/MMBtu. February climbed 4.8 cents to $3.761.

At A Glance:

  • Cold coming, but expected to last
  • Storage deficit set to shrink
  • Power burns boost cash

Spot gas prices bounced back quickly from the prior day’s sell-off, though losses continued out West. NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. ultimately picked up 4.0 cents to $3.830.

Less than two weeks before Christmas, it looks like Santa better pack his shorts and flip flops instead of the big red coat. Weather models continued to flip back and forth and still were not convincing in showing...