As updated forecasts showed upcoming heat in the eastern Lower 48 easing somewhat, natural gas futures fell back below $3/MMBtu in early trading Wednesday. After tumbling 9.7 cents in the previous session, the June Nymex contract was down another 2.8 cents to $2.984 at around 8:45 a.m. ET.

NGI Morning Natural Gas Price & Markets Coverage

Projections for slightly less heat nationally heading into this weekend prompted Bespoke Weather Services to lower its gas-weighted degree days projections in its updated 15-day forecast Wednesday.

“There is still a solid surge of heat into the Midwest and East, peaking early next week with some 90s in the Ohio Valley over to the Mid-Atlantic,” Bespoke said. “All the while, temperatures in the South remain quite ordinary for this time of year, though we do see some above normal...