Natural gas futures gave up ground Friday as buyers moved to the sidelines after a furious rally earlier in the week. The June Nymex gas futures contract declined 22.5 cents day/day and settled at $8.083/MMBtu. Still, it gained 5.5% for the week. July shed 22.2 cents on Friday to $8.178.

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At A Glance:

  • Futures tumble in late-week selling
  • Prompt month holds onto $8.00 handle
  • LNG exports gather further momentum

NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. fell 13.5 cents on the day to $7.805.

Small shifts in fundamentals appeared to give traders reason to hit the pause button after futures had soared above $8.50 at one point in the week.

Production estimates on Friday crept back up about 1 Bcf from earlier in the week to 95 Bcf, though output remained well below the 97 Bcf level...