As updated forecasts hinted at higher cooling demand developing later in May, natural gas futures recovered the previous session’s losses in early trading Friday. After slipping 1.0 cents in Thursday’s trading, the June Nymex contract was up 1.3 cents to $2.941/MMBtu at around 8:45 a.m. ET.

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Based on the latest forecast data projections from Bespoke Weather Services early Friday pointed to slightly higher demand day/day for the 15-day outlook period. 

The higher projected demand was a result of additional warmth expected around May 20, “as models show better support for a building upper level ridge over the central/eastern U.S., enough so that we feel we get a more material boost” in cooling degree days, Bespoke said. This could in turn set the stage for “above normal...