Natural gas futures polished off the week with a modest increase, driven by the likelihood of hot weather returning and becoming widespread early next month. The September Nymex gas futures contract settled Friday at $2.540/MMBtu, up 2.1 cents from Thursday’s settlement.

At A Glance:

  • No end in sight for Texas heat
  • Surplus erosion to continue
  • Cash prices up in South Central

Spot gas prices were mixed heading into the weekend as scorching weather was expected to ease in the northern stretches of the country but remain in Texas. NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. climbed 1.5 cents to $2.245.

Fresh off Thursday’s doozy of an Energy Information Administration (EIA) storage report, traders on Friday were content to take a wait-and-see approach regarding the latest data.

The EIA...