Spot gas prices in the Midcontinent, often the cheapest in the Lower 48, surged to as high as $600.00/MMBtu on Friday as snow, ice and subfreezing temperatures saturated the region. 

Oneok Gas Transmission, aka OGT, had been gaining traction over the past couple of days as a train of winter storms began barreling across the United States. At the start of the week, the Oklahoma point was trading in the $3.00 range. By Friday, no transaction was executed below $125.00.

AccuWeather said temperatures were forecast to dip to record levels in the 20s, teens and even the single digits in some cases by Saturday night in portions of Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas — and that is likely to set the stage for a major winter storm.

“It is a stormy, stormy pattern across the...