Natural gas futures were lower through midday trading Wednesday, retreating sharply from early highs as the market continued to wrestle with a mixed fundamental outlook underscored by an enduring storage overhang.

Here’s the latest:

  • June Nymex futures down 2.4 cents to $2.183/MMBtu as of 2:11 p.m. ET; July off fractionally at $2.469

The rally that took hold late last week finally appeared to be running out of steam Wednesday. The front month went as high as $2.274 in early morning trading but had fallen below the $2.200 level by 10 a.m. ET.

  • Production down at 95.1 Bcf/d, but LNG demand also subdued at 11.4 Bcf/d, Wood Mackenzie estimates show
  • Stagnating storage surpluses still an obstacle for bulls
  • Year-on-five-year inventory surplus seen holding steady near plus-650 Bcf...