Still groggy from the holiday, natural gas futures struggled to find direction on Wednesday. Amid a supportive backdrop of near-term heat and softening drilling activity, a host of bearish factors ultimately proved too much to overcome. The August Nymex gas futures contract settled 5.2 cents lower than Monday’s settlement at $2.657/MMBtu.

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At A Glance:

  • Production falls to 97 Bcf/d
  • Forecasts for mixed demand
  • NGI models draw of 41 Bcf

Spot gas prices were stronger, however, fueled by the hotter-than-normal weather spanning much of the Lower 48. Led by huge gains in the Northeast, NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. jumped 31.0 cents to $2.700.

With temperatures soaring into the 90s in the first heatwave of the summer for the East Coast, Nymex futures attempted a rally early in...