Further cooler trends in the latest weather data and steep production cuts because of Hurricane Delta combined to send natural gas futures prices screaming higher Friday. After surging to a $2.821 intraday high, the November Nymex gas futures contract capped off the week at $2.741, up 11.4 cents from Thursday’s close. December climbed a more moderate 5.5 cents to $3.204.

PM market

Spot gas prices were mixed, with some big moves to both sides of the ledger. NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. climbed only 2.5 cents to $1.310.

Coming off a stout, though below-average storage injection, natural gas futures rallied early Friday. Bespoke Weather Services found the move perplexing given the risk of weaker cash prices heading into the weekend. However, the firm chalked up the steep gains to traders...