Natural gas futures floundered most of Tuesday, but for a third straight session, the October contract approached the end of a tepid run at the front of the curve with a small gain. Lighter production offset fading demand and export uncertainty.

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At A Glance:

  • Prompt month falls for fifth session
  • Production lower on maintenance
  • Heating demand drops into weekend

Following tiny gains in the two prior sessions – and losses overall last week – the October Nymex gas futures contract on Tuesday inched up 1.7 cents day/day and settled at $2.656/MMBtu. The November contract, which becomes the prompt month with Thursday trading, lost 6.1 cents to $2.845.

NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. picked up a half-cent to $2.175.

Fundamentals were mixed.

Production was impacted by...