Someone poured natural gas futures traders a little too much coffee Thursday, with prices all over the place throughout the session. After surging to a $9.663/MMBtu intraday high and then plunging to an $8.913 intraday low, the September Nymex contract finally settled the day at $9.188, down 5.6 cents from Wednesday’s close. October futures finished 5.8 cents lower at $9.170.

At A Glance:

  • Production falls to 97 Bcf/d
  • Forecasts for mixed demand
  • NGI models draw of 41 Bcf

Spot gas action was less chaotic, with the majority of North American locations slipping day/day. NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. dropped 16.0 cents to $8.890.

After some positioning ahead of Thursday’s government inventory report along with profit-taking, bulls were ready to reclaim control of the market...