Jeremiah Shelor

Natural gas futures lost ground during an uneventful session Friday as strong production limited the impact of sizzling temperatures forecast for key Lower 48 demand markets into the first week of July.

Hot temperatures helped boost natural gas spot prices across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast for the last week of June, though declines in Texas and the West left the NGI Weekly National Spot Gas Average a penny lower at $2.62/MMBtu.

The August natural gas futures contract was set to open Thursday slightly higher at around $2.985/MMBtu, with prices supported by heat in the forecast as the market turns its attention to the 10:30 a.m. EDT release of weekly government storage data.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Thursday reported a below-consensus natural gas storage build for the week ended June 22, but prompt month futures pulled back a few cents as the market reacted to a revision that increased the prior week’s reported net build by 4 Bcf.

An inauspicious start to August’s prompt-month run saw natural gas futures slide Thursday after a revision to Energy Information Administration (EIA) storage data nullified a supportive build in this week’s inventory report.

An inauspicious start to August’s prompt-month run saw natural gas futures slide Thursday after a revision to Energy Information Administration (EIA) storage data nullified a supportive build in this week’s inventory report.

The expiring July natural gas contract was set to open Wednesday about 4.8 cents higher at around $2.987/MMBtu as overnight guidance was mixed but with one of the major weather models showing greater cooling demand over the eastern and central United States next month.

U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports have arrived, and recent North American market events show how the growing push-and-pull between domestic and global gas markets is here to stay, according to RBN Energy LLC analyst Sheetal Nasta.

A federal appeals court on Thursday stayed a crucial U.S. Army Corps of Engineers water crossing permit for Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) in West Virginia, potentially a major setback for a project under construction that was aiming to begin service this year.