After surging nearly 60 cents over six sessions, the November Nymex natural gas futures contract recorded three straight losses and finished trading Friday at $3.236/MMBtu, down 10.8 cents day/day and 3% for the week.

At A Glance:

  • Front month drops 10.8 cents
  • Production volumes stronger
  • Weather demand dissipates

Analysts attributed the slump to a combination of profit-taking on long positions, stronger production and a weaker weather outlook that also hampered cash prices. NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. dropped 43.5 cents to $1.860 on Friday.

NatGasWeather noted that, after early cold shots in northern markets to start October, forecasts pointed to seasonal demand for the week ahead and below average natural gas needs in the final week of October amid mild autumn...