Natural gas futures slipped further Friday, led lower by forecasts for benign weather through the end of December. The January Nymex contract settled at $3.690/MMBtu, down 7.6 cents day/day.

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A day earlier, the prompt month fell 3.6 cents. February lost 7.6 cents and closed at $3.639/MMBtu on Friday.

NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg., in contrast, jumped $1.495 to $5.370 on Friday, propelled by soaring prices in the Northeast ahead of an anticipated blast of winter weather.

Aside from a near-term freeze in the Midwest that was expected to push to the East over the weekend, weather outlooks shifted warmer on Friday, forecasters said. Both the domestic and European models shed several heating degree days from Thursday’s projections, NatGasWeather noted, “thereby forecasting a...