Strong heat this week and the prospect of more to come in August helped natural gas futures to keep climbing in early trading Monday. The August Nymex contract was up 9.1 cents to $4.151/MMBtu at around 8:50 a.m. ET. September was up 8.6 cents to $4.128.

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After breaking through resistance at the $4 mark last week, natural gas futures continued to surge higher early Monday, analysts at EBW Analytics Group noted. 

Futures were “racing higher” on a combination of “the hottest weather of the summer expected to extend nationwide tomorrow and the potential for record electricity demand” for Texas grid operator ERCOT (aka the Electric Reliability Council of Texas), factors that could drive sharp natural gas demand gains, the EBW analysts said.

Looking at the updated 15-day...