Production declines and further forecasts for early summer heat sent natural gas futures higher again on Tuesday. The June Nymex gas contract advanced 34.8 cents day/day to close at $8.304/MMBtu. It marked a second straight gain. July futures rose 34.1 cents to $8.394.

West Texas Prices

At A Glance:

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

NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. followed suit, rising 25.0 cents to $7.990.

Spring maintenance continued to hamper production levels, with output estimated below 94 Bcf on Tuesday. That was down about 1 Bcf from Bloomberg’s estimate a day earlier and far below the 97 Bcf high of the past winter.

Wood Mackenzie analyst Laura Munder said the recent declines were concentrated in areas where maintenance work is...