Natural gas futures traded in a narrow range much of Friday, ultimately culminating another sluggish week with a loss amid mild weather and elevated production levels. The February Nymex gas futures contract settled at $3.174/MMBtu, down 10.1 cents day/day. March lost 8.8 cents to $3.036.

At A Glance:

  • Prompt month sheds 10 cents
  • Heating demand proves elusive
  • Elevated production holds steady

NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. shed 27.0 cents to $4.825.

The prompt month futures contract finished the week down 7% from the prior week’s close. This reflected unseasonably warm weather across much of the eastern half of the country through much of January to date, along with strong production that steadily held around 100 Bcf/d.

However, colder weather may soon arrive, bolstering...