A stretch of comparatively stolid pre-holiday price action in the natural gas market yielded generally modest net changes to natural gas forwards during the Dec. 9-15 trading period, NGI’s Forward Look data show.

A 1.3-cent week/week fixed price discount for the Henry Hub prompt month saw many Lower 48 points trade within five to 10 cents of even for the period for January delivery, with the pipeline-constrained Northeast the most notable exception.

Aside from a brief foray above the $4.00/MMBtu mark, Nymex natural gas futures largely stayed within the confines of the $3.700-4.000 range for the period, extending the trend into Thursday’s session, when the January contract settled at $3.766, off 3.6 cents.

A Storage Cushion

Updated Energy Information Administration...