Natural gas futures lost momentum on Wednesday, despite intense near-term heat and lower production estimates. Coming off an 11.7-cent gain, the August Nymex gas futures contract shed 2.6 cents day/day and settled at $2.603/MMBtu. September fell 3.3 cents to $2.585.

At A Glance:

  • 40s Bcf injection expected
  • Production slides further
  • Signs of strong LNG demand

NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. declined 5.0 cents to $2.540 as relatively high but volatile prices in the West cooled off.

Production on Wednesday slipped a tick below 99 Bcf/d, according to Bloomberg’s estimate. That was down from around 100 Bcf/d to start the week and down from 101 Bcf/d much of last week.

Wood Mackenzie analyst Laura Munder said the decrease was focused in Northeast Pennsylvania and on the...