Natural gas futures appeared to be searching for direction on Friday, with the latest storage data not really moving the needle much and little change in fundamentals otherwise. After the latest rig data showed a hefty surprise addition, however, the August Nymex futures contract closed out the week at $2.582/MMBtu, down 2.7 cents from Thursday’s close. The September contract slipped 2.9 cents to $2.570.

At A Glance:

  • Production at 96.5 Bcf/d
  • Uneven weather outlook
  • Storage situation improves

Spot natural gas prices also softened ahead of the weekend amid easing heat across most of the United States. NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. fell 19.0 cents to $2.150.

With production at more than 102 Bcf/d for nearly a week now, the continuation of lofty supplies and generally sluggish...