Natural gas futures price action quieted down a bit Friday, no doubt with traders’ heads still spinning from the prior day’s wild swings. The July Nymex gas futures contract settled 3.8 cents higher to end the week, at $8.523/MMBtu. August futures picked up 3.6 cents to reach $8.510.

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Spot gas prices retreated after several days in the green, with a moderate outlook for the three-day period through Monday. NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. plunged 48.0 cents to $7.895.

With weather models trending slightly cooler for next week, it appears that Friday’s modest price rally was likely inspired by the ongoing digestion of the latest storage data.

The Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) 90 Bcf injection initially was viewed as bearish versus expectations and helped send...