Natural gas futures retreated on Friday, with the small loss driven by the continuation of an oversupplied market in the throes of shoulder season. The May Nymex gas futures contract closed out the week at $2.233/MMBtu, off 1.6 cents from Thursday’s close. June futures slid 1.9 cents to $2.408.

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At A Glance:

  • Sustained output cuts needed
  • South Central balances tightening
  • End of pipe work sinks West cash

Spot gas prices were mostly lower, especially out West, sending NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. down 3.0 cents to $2.130.

Coming off a modest gain in spite of the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) bearish storage inventory data, futures traded mostly in the same band on Friday. This indicates that traders are in a wait-and-see mode to determine the next significant...