After falling within pennies of the $9 mark early Thursday, bulls paraded in and delivered a swift kick to natural gas futures prices. Storage data confirming looser balances sapped momentum only briefly, with the October Nymex gas futures contract settling at $9.262/MMBtu, up 13.5 cents on the day. November futures picked up 14.1 cents to $9.330.

At A Glance:

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

Spot gas was mostly higher, with continued heat and a stressed electric grid in California driving up prices. NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. climbed 25.5 cents to $9.135.

“The market has certainly been very resilient, with any bearish data being shrugged off rather easily,” NatGasWeather said of Thursday’s Nymex futures price...