Natural gas futures fizzled midweek but held comfortably above $9 as bulls remained largely in control of the market. The September Nymex gas futures contract settled Wednesday at $9.244/MMBtu, off 8.5 cents day/day. October futures slid 8.3 cents to $9.228.

At A Glance:

  • BREAKING: U.S. EIA reports 18 Bcf storage injection
  • Northeast leads production drops
  • Cash rallies on western U.S. heat

Spot gas prices continued to strengthen amid continually rampant gas demand for power generation. NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. climbed 11.5 cents to $9.050.

With not much changing in the long-range weather outlook, futures traders on Wednesday focused squarely on the next round of government inventory data. Wind generation dropped sharply during the reference period, and market observers...