With updated forecasts suggesting an upcoming stretch of Arctic chills in the Lower 48 will fade in the final days of 2022, natural gas futures were down sharply in early trading Friday. The January Nymex contract was down 60.7 cents to $6.363/MMBtu at around 8:45 a.m. ET.

NGI Morning Natural Gas Price & Markets Coverage

The American and European weather models both trended warmer overnight, including a “hefty” 15 heating degree day decline from the American dataset, according to NatGasWeather.

“Trade this week in the natural gas markets has been maddening as prices whipsaw violently, aided by inconsistent weather models that have endured large run-to-run temperature trends to both the warmer and colder side,” the firm said.

The most recent model runs as of early Friday continued to show “impressive” Arctic cold...