A hotter shift in forecasts over the holiday weekend, including toasty June temperatures in key demand regions in the Midwest and East, helped propel natural gas futures sharply higher in early trading Tuesday. The July Nymex contract was up 7.2 cents to $3.058/MMBtu at around 8:50 a.m. ET.

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At A Glance:

  • Production at 96.5 Bcf/d
  • Uneven weather outlook
  • Storage situation improves

Natural gas futures recovered on Friday along with stronger export volumes and increased expectations for national cooling demand in June. The July Nymex contract rose 2.8 cents day/day and settled at $2.986/MMBtu. August gained 2.9 cents to $3.007.

In its debut as the front month on Thursday, the July contract had dropped 6.9 cents following a bearish government inventory report. That followed a rally...