A large decline in heating demand expectations in the latest round of forecasts sent natural gas futures tumbling in early trading Thursday. The January Nymex contract was down 16.1 cents to $3.815/MMBtu at around 8:55 a.m. ET.

NGI Morning Natural Gas Price & Markets Coverage

Forecasts trended warmer overnight to significantly lower projected demand day/day, with the change particularly pronounced in the European modeling, according to Bespoke Weather Services.

“Every time it feels like there is reason to believe some colder momentum, even if just modest, is taking hold, models pull the rug out and jump warmer, and it happened again overnight,” Bespoke said. “We have sided with the colder risk, especially into early January, in the sense that we could at least get a period of near normal, with a cold focus in the...