Natural gas futures floundered on Thursday, hampered by strong production and fresh inventory data that confirmed supplies in storage remain robust even amid peak summer demand.

At A Glance:

  • Production falls to 97 Bcf/d
  • Forecasts for mixed demand
  • NGI models draw of 41 Bcf

The August Nymex gas futures contract shed 17.3 cents day/day and settled at $2.492/MMBtu before rolling off the books. September, which takes over as the prompt month on Friday, fell 9.8 cents to $2.595.

NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. retreated 5.5 cents to $3.060.

Production on Thursday held around 101 Bcf/d – near record levels – while the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) latest storage report showed underground supplies remain far above historic averages in spite of punishing heat...