Traders looked past a tilt toward cooler weather in new forecasts and focused instead on near-term heat and expectations for both strong domestic demand and U.S. exports over the balance of summer, sending natural gas futures higher on Monday.

markets

At A Glance:

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

The August Nymex contract gained 7.5 cents from the prior week’s close and settled at $3.749/MMBtu. September natural gas also rose 7.5 cents, reaching $3.732 at the close. The prompt month had finished modestly lower on Friday and closed last week overall essentially flat after a series of rallies in June.

NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. advanced 15.5 cents on Monday to $3.720.

NatGasWeather said forecast data over the weekend shifted...