Natural gas traders waking up with any neck pain on Friday may have a case of whiplash after Thursday’s wild ride in the futures market. The December Nymex contract, on the first day in the prompt-month position, plunged early to a $3.151 intraday low before screaming back higher to settle at $3.301, up a penny on the day. January closed six-tenths of a cent higher at $3.417.

The same could not be said for spot gas, which traded Thursday for gas delivery through Saturday. Small losses were seen across most of the country, but big gains on the East Coast lifted NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. up 1.5 cents to $3.040.

In a battle between bearish weather outlooks and tighter supply/demand balances, the December Nymex gas futures contract made a big entrance on its first day at the...