Natural gas futures floundered for the first time this year in morning trading Friday, dropping more than 10.0 cents amid profit-taking and stout storage levels that pointed to ongoing supply/demand imbalance. Late in the session, however, the February Nymex gas futures contract recovered and finished up 7.2 cents day/day at $2.893/MMBtu.

At A Glance:

  • Front month gains 7.2 cents
  • U.S. weather forecasts vary
  • Production off recent highs

Friday marked the fourth consecutive day of advances.

NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. lost 18.5 cents to $3.095, but it was the only decline of the week for the cash market.

Production held close to 105 Bcf/d on Friday, according to Wood Mackenzie estimates. That was off about 1 Bcf/d from recent highs but still near record levels above 106...