With a cold start to January still a possibility, and with analysts observing fresh highs in export demand, natural gas futures traders shrugged off warmer trends from models over the weekend to send prices higher early Monday. The January Nymex contract was up 13.8 cents to $3.828/MMBtu at around 8:45 a.m. ET.

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Milder trends for the current week into the Christmas holiday weekend saw the forecast warm “rather significantly” compared to Friday’s expectations, according to Bespoke Weather Services.

However, “things do still turn cold enough to move national demand closer to normal as we end the month and begin January, though the best chances for cold still lie in the central and western U.S.,” Bespoke said. “…This still keeps alive the risk that we see some colder...