Natural gas futures dropped further Friday as traders bid adieu to the likely peak of summer and apparently turned a blind eye to the inadequacy of current storage levels. The September Nymex gas futures contract closed the week at $3.861, down 7.2 cents day/day. October slid 7.3 cents to hit $3.875.

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At A Glance:

  • Near-term demand declines as storms near
  • Storage still well below normal
  • West, East cash off sharply

Spot gas prices also turned sharply lower as a series of storms was forecast to move in over the weekend, capping temperatures and lowering demand. NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. tumbled 21.0 cents to $3.785.

With the core of summer in the rearview mirror, traders on Friday were focused on what appears to be some loosening in supply/demand balances. Although it was...