February natural gas futures floundered most of Friday but bounced back in the final hour, avoiding a fourth-consecutive loss under the pressure of steady production and supply/demand imbalance.

At A Glance:

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

The February Nymex contract gained 16.5 cents day/day and settled at $3.109/MMBtu before rolling off the board. March, which takes over as the prompt month, ticked up one-tenth of a cent to $2.849.

NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. recovered ground Friday after steep losses the two prior days. It rose 83.5 cents to $4.420.

[Where are natural gas prices headed this summer? Understand current market fundamentals and what they might mean for prices down the road by watching NGI’s recent...