After an early dip into the red, natural gas futures swung higher Monday as weather models continued to show bursts of heat over the next couple of weeks. Volatility remained front and center, however, with big gains nearly erased by the close of the session.

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At A Glance:

  • Prompt month falls for fifth session
  • Production lower on maintenance
  • Heating demand drops into weekend

As the dust settled, the September Nymex gas futures contract expired only 5.7 cents higher at $9.353/MMBtu. The October contract, which is set to take the prompt-month position on Tuesday, settled at $9.336, up 6.7 cents.

Spot gas prices were mostly higher on Monday, with West Coast markets netting the most significant increases on yet another heat wave in the region. NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg....