Natural gas futures hovered close to even early Friday as forecasts continued to favor frigid temperatures moving into parts of the Lower 48 next month, while analysts contemplated the implications of this week’s “disappointing” inventory data. The March Nymex contract was up 0.7 cents to $2.671/MMBtu at around 8:35 a.m. ET.

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As of early Friday both the American and European weather models came in colder versus 24 hours earlier, although the latest data from the European came in warmer versus Thursday’s afternoon run, according to Bespoke Weather Services.

“Storm-induced variability is still the theme over the next week or so, followed by a more substantial push of cold into the central/western U.S. next weekend into the following week,” Bespoke said.

The upcoming...