Natural gas futures prices bumped up and down this week as winter weather teased its approach. On Thursday, the December New York Mercantile Exchange futures contract settled at $5.975/MMBtu, down 29.3 cents day/day. January lost 25.9 cents to $6.330.

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Cash prices meanwhile have remained extremely attractive for buyers in Mexico’s spot market. NGI’s U.S. Spot Gas National Avg. shed 18.0 cents on Thursday to $3.810.

According to NatGasWeather, U.S. production remains 1-2 Bcf below last week’s levels at around 98 Bcf/d. U.S. LNG exports are holding at just under 12 Bcf/d.

A representative with the Freeport liquefied natural gas export facility said a partial restart is still planned for this month, but the timing is cause for much speculation. Freeport’s return could pull...