Natural gas benchmark prices in North America remained pressured to the downside this week amid mild weather and ample supply.

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On Thursday, the November New York Mercantile Exchange gas futures contract shed 42.0 cents day/day and settled at $5.186/MMBtu before expiration. The December contract, which takes over the front month on Friday, fell 24.4 cents to $5.875.

“What could be the next major catalyst to prices is an update to when Freeport LNG will resume operations,” NatGasWeather said on Thursday. That event would take about 2 Bcf/d off the market.

Regional Shocks

In pockets, natural gas markets were all aflutter this week with maintenance pushing prices into negative territory in West Texas. Prices in Europe plunged too as the storage picture improved and...