Natural gas futures floundered on Friday amid hints in weather models that Arctic cold blasts, while intense, may not endure as long as earlier forecasts suggested. The January Nymex natural gas contract shed 37.0 cents day/day and settled at $6.600/MMBtu. February futures fell 28.6 cents to $6.303.

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At A Glance:

  • Weather outlook mixed
  • Production under pressure
  • Modest storage pull expected

NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. dropped 19.0 cents Friday, but remained elevated at $11.330.

Futures had rallied on Thursday alongside widespread cold in the West and central United States, as well as forecasts for it to canvas the East by the weekend, with more of the same in store for the week ahead. All of that remained on the table Friday, but NatGasWeather said model runs for the Dec....