With hot weather starting to penetrate parts of the United States and export demand expected to return to near-record levels following spring maintenance, natural gas forward prices strengthened for the trading period ending May 26, according to NGI’s Forward Look.

Gains were weighted to the front of the curve, with June prices rising an average 6.0 cents for the May 20-26 period, while the balance of summer (June-October) tacked on only 3.0 cents on average, Forward Look data showed. Similarly small increases were seen for the winter 2021-2022 strip (November-March) and the summer 2022 (April-October) package.

West Coast markets moved against the pack during the trading period, with stout losses in Southern California leading the move lower as temperatures retreated from...