Natural gas futures on Monday picked up where they left off the week before, climbing higher on expectations for robust cooling demand in the summer ahead and the potential for anemic storage supplies by the close of injection season.

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At A Glance:

  • Production falls to 97 Bcf/d
  • Forecasts for mixed demand
  • NGI models draw of 41 Bcf

The June Nymex gas futures contract settled at $7.475/MMBtu, up 23.1 cents day/day. It had closed higher Friday, the fourth finish in positive territory of the past week. July rose 21.1 cents on Monday to $7.566.

NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. surged 50.5 cents to $7.050, with strong gains across the Lower 48.

Production showed signs of modest recovery after interruptions imposed in April by late-season snowstorms in the Northern Plains. However,...