After gaining 25 cents in the past three sessions, natural gas futures took a breather Thursday. The November Nymex gas futures contract settled at $3.007, down 1.6 cents day/day. December, however, fell a sharper 7.6 cents to $3.272, and similar declines were seen through the remaining winter contracts.

EIA storage oct 16

Spot gas prices were mostly higher, but pipeline maintenance weighed heavily on West Texas markets. NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. finished a 1.0 cent higher at $2.465.

Nothing’s really changed in the fundamental backdrop, and that could be why futures prices remained intact on Thursday. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) demand bumped up a bit, but the gains were small compared to earlier in the week when traffic was allowed to resume near the Sabine Pass and Cameron LNG terminals....