Natural gas futures were humming along most of Wednesday, with prices moving in and out of positive territory amid little change in the weather forecast or production data. In the last half hour of trading, however, the September Nymex exploded higher as details emerged regarding Freeport LNG’s potential return. At the close, the prompt month had soared to $8.266/MMBtu, up 56.0 cents day/day. October futures jumped 56.4 cents to $8.262.

At A Glance:

  • Market reacts swiftly to Freeport news
  • Storage injection seen below average
  • East Coast cash rallies on heat wave

Spot gas prices were mixed as hot weather spread to the East Coast, driving cooling loads across the region. NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. climbed 13.0 cents to $7.940.

A consent agreement was reached between...