North American natural gas futures were sluggish this week, but they got a jolt on Thursday. The August New York Mercantile Exchange gas futures contract settled at $2.757/MMBtu, up 15.4 cents day/day. September was up 14.6 cents to $2.731.

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Analysts at NatGasWeather attributed the jump to “the weather data not backing off on one of the hottest patterns of the past 40-plus years for July 25-31.”

U.S. production is also showing signs of easing. Production on Wednesday was below 99 Bcf/d, from 101 Bcf/d much of the previous week. Analysts at EBW Analytics Group predicted a supply response to the low prices as being imminent. The natural gas-focused rig count in the United States is off by around 27 rigs from January highs, they noted.

Mexico import demand, meanwhile, remains...