Natural gas futures on Wednesday floundered for the first time this year, with speculators hesitant to hold positions and bears seizing upon forecasts for a late January warm-up.

Storage estimates

At A Glance:

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

Following gains every regular session of 2024 through Tuesday, when prices jumped 21.0 cents, the February Nymex gas futures contract on Wednesday shed 15.1 cents day/day and settled at $3.039/MMBtu.  

NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. ticked up 5.5 cents on Wednesday to $3.650 a day after soaring 60.5 cents.

National Weather Service (NWS) data showed ongoing winter blasts Wednesday and through the trading week, with another surge of frigid air forecast to follow this weekend and into next week. Freezing...