Natural gas futures on Friday probed higher for the fourth time of the week and the seventh time in eight sessions, powered by forecasts for stronger heating demand arriving just as production is easing. The April Nymex gas futures contract settled at $3.009/MMBtu, up 24.4 cents day/day. May jumped 24.2 cents to $3.141.

At A Glance:

  • Prompt month tops $3.00
  • Cold March conditions loom
  • Lighter production persists

NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg., in contrast, fell 55.0 cents to $3.295 on Friday, led lower by volatile price action in the West.

Production averaged about 100 Bcf/d over the final week of February, according to Bloomberg data, but it dipped to around 98 Bcf/d early in March.

The lighter output developed following seasonally benign winter weather conditions across...