Natural gas futures on Friday traded in a narrow range of gains and losses as markets mulled weather-driven demand concerns against encouraging signs of tighter balances, notably including stronger liquefied natural gas (LNG) volumes that helped minimize storage injections.   

Markets

The December Nymex contract ultimately gained 5.3 cents day/day and settled at $3.354/MMBtu. January rose 5.2 cents to $3.469.

Spot gas prices declined, however, amid expectations for mild weather. NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. fell 16.0 cents to $2.880.

Weather forecasters made warmer revisions to their outlooks early Friday. While cold continued to permeate the nation’s midsection, models indicated that the chill likely would not stretch to most of the eastern half of the Lower 48. Meanwhile,...