Natural gas futures were trading slightly lower through midday Friday as a sizable storage surplus continued to hang over the market, even as estimates suggest production volumes have pulled back.

Here’s the latest:

  • April Nymex contract off 2.1 cents to $1.662/MMBtu as of 2:14 p.m. ET
  • Domestic production down day/day at 99.9 Bcf/d, LNG at 13.2 Bcf/d, per Wood Mackenzie estimates
  • Haynesville down four rigs, Marcellus down one in updated Baker Hughes count

The April contract closing price has been bound within a $1.655-$1.759 range recently, with prices weighed down by a hefty storage surplus and extended downtime at the Freeport LNG terminal despite weather-driven demand gains this week, according to EBW Analytics Group analyst Eli Rubin. “In the near term, a cold weekend...