Weekly natural gas cash prices pushed upward, supported by lower production activity and forecasts for intensifying heat. Those catalysts also bolstered futures.

NGI’s Weekly Spot Gas National Avg. for the April 30-May 3 period rose 15.5 cents to $1.385/MMBtu. As the trading week closed, leading gainers included Florida Gas Zone 3, up 36.0 cents to $1.925, and Cove Point, ahead 18.0 cents to $1.830.

Strengthening West Texas conditions added to the momentum. Prices in the region had traded in negative territory for weeks amid maintenance work and a glut of supply. But, as Wood Mackenzie analyst Kara Ozgen noted, Kinder Morgan Inc.’s Gulf Coast Express Pipeline, which moves gas to the Gulf Coast from the Permian Basin, began to wrap up a round of repairs and provided more...