Prompt-month natural gas futures fell for the first time in five sessions amid export uncertainty, cooling weather and the specter of hurricane conditions dropping temperatures further on the East Coast.

At A Glance:

  • Front month loses 6.3 cents
  • Hurricane Lee approaches U.S.
  • Production remains off slightly

The October Nymex natural gas futures contract on Wednesday settled at $2.680/MMBtu, down 6.3 cents day/day. November lost 2.8 cents to $2.987.

NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. fell 4.5 cents to $2.445.

The futures slump marked a reversal of a recent rally – the drivers of which remained intact but vulnerable.

On bulls’ side, production hung near 99.6 Bcf/d in Bloomberg’s estimate Wednesday, in line with a day earlier and down about 2 Bcf/d from September highs...