With sizzling temperatures in the southern United States, and cheap natural gas prices driving strong power burns elsewhere, weekly cash prices rallied strongly the first week of August. Driven by 30-cent-plus gains in Texas and Louisiana, NGI’s Weekly Spot Gas National Avg. climbed 9.5 cents to $1.850.

As daytime temperatures soared into the 90s and 100s across Texas and the Southeast, spot gas prices rallied for much of the week, moving above the $2 mark at several key locations. Benchmark Henry Hub jumped 33.5 cents week/week to average $2.090, while Houston Ship Channel shot up 30.0 cents to $2.090.

West Texas prices were a glaring exception as several pipeline maintenance events reduced flows out of the region. Transwestern prices plunged 44.5 cents from last week to...