Natural gas futures stumbled in post-Labor Day trading as the market proved unable to sustain recent highs even as Gulf of Mexico (GOM) production outages lingered. Forecasts for balmy mid-September temperatures did little to incentivize buying interest, and the October Nymex contract fell 14.4 cents to settle at $4.568/MMBtu.

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At A Glance:

  • Production slowly on the up
  • Weather less supportive
  • California demand high

In the physical market, huge gains in the Northeast and in the West sent NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. soaring 37.5 cents higher to $4.795.

Looking at the latest supply and demand data points early Tuesday, Bespoke Weather Services noted some production returning to the market, bringing Lower 48 supply back to 91 Bcf/d.

“The bearish component comes via what...