Amid mild springtime weather-driven demand and steady readings for production and exports, natural gas futures hovered close to even in early trading Monday.

NGI Morning Natural Gas Price & Markets Coverage

The May Nymex contract was up 0.7 cents to $1.792/MMBtu as of 8:30 a.m. ET. June was trading at $2.013, up 0.3 cents.

EBW Analytics Group analyst Eli Rubin told clients early Monday that the firm viewed risks for natural gas prices as “biased slightly lower” in the near-term.

“With local distribution companies yet to begin planned injections in earnest, natural gas spot price risks over the next seven to 10 days could create pockets of weakness for Nymex gas futures,” Rubin said.

On Friday, spot prices sold off sharply for weekend and Monday delivery, according to NGI’s Daily Gas Price Index. Spot prices at