A lack of intimidating heat heading into late August undercut natural gas futures Friday, sending prices lower to cap off a largely bearish week of trading. Adding to a series of daily losses in recent sessions, the September Nymex contract dropped 7.0 cents to settle at $2.551/MMBtu.

At A Glance:

  • Back end of 15-day weather outlook failing to impress
  • Tropical storm activity potentially heating up
  • California/Southwest cash prices sell off as Hilary approaches

Cash prices also sold off in Friday’s trade; the prospect of strong cooling demand for the upcoming work week did not translate into buying pressure for weekend and Monday delivery. NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. skidded 16.0 cents to $2.295.

NatGasWeather highlighted a number of factors to help explain the recent selling...