Natural gas futures faltered for an eighth-consecutive session on Thursday, dropping to three-and-a-half year lows following a bearish government inventory report and amid ongoing signs of supply/demand imbalance.

At A Glance:

  • EIA reports 49 Bcf draw
  • Mixed near-term weather
  • Production holds strong

Coming off an 8.0-cent loss the prior session, the March Nymex gas futures contract settled at $1.581/MMBtu on Thursday, down 2.8 cents day/day.  

NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. posted a third straight loss and fell 6.0 cents to $1.600.

Production held strong at about 105 Bcf/d on Thursday, according to Wood Mackenzie estimates. That was in line with the previous week and up nearly 4 Bcf/d from a year earlier. Lower 48 demand, meanwhile, hovered around 101 Bcf/d, down about 4...