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May natural gas futures continued on their downward spiral Thursday following the release of government inventory data that showed a withdrawal far less than what the industry was expecting.

The Arkansas Public Policy Panel (APPP) issued a report Wednesday urging state lawmakers to strengthen regulation of oil and gas development in the Fayetteville Shale and encouraged them to use moratoria as needed.

Since the cessation of injections at two natural gas saltwater disposal wells in the Fayetteville Shale nearly two weeks ago, a swarm of earthquakes there that began last summer seems to have died down, a researcher said. However, it will be at least a few more weeks before any link between the wells and quakes might be seen, and with how much certainty remains unclear.

With low temperatures around freezing or less due Tuesday across a broad swath of territory stretching from the Northeast through parts of the Midwest, Midcontinent and Upper Plains into the Rockies and including much of Canada, prices recorded gains that were mostly in single digits at a large majority of points Monday.

Shale development currently accounts for about half of the total rigs targeting natural gas development in the United States, a top executive with ICF International said.

The Eagle Ford Shale, where oil and natural gas development began in earnest less than three years ago, is making a big economic footprint in the 24-county South Texas area where it lies, according to researchers at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA).

Reporting some sobering financial results for year-end 2010, NRG Energy Inc.’s CEO David Crane talked in less than bullish terms about the prospects for natural gas-fired generation and his company’s bet on new nuclear generation in Texas during a conference call with financial analysts Tuesday. But Crane was still upbeat about solar energy and the inevitability of “sustainability” becoming a key market factor in energy development.

March natural gas futures continued Thursday’s descent Friday in lackluster trading as the contract could only carve out less than a 6-cent range. Traders noted continuing pressure on the front end of the board from 2012 contracts, and others cited the likelihood of moderate temperatures this summer. At the end of the day March futures fell 7.6 cents to $3.910 and April skidded 6.0 cents to $3.977. March crude oil dropped $1.15 to $85.58/bbl.

Prices fell at a large majority of points Wednesday as North America’s latest siege of frigid weather was expected to be less severe and of shorter duration than the one that proved to be so troublesome a week earlier. Many traders were looking ahead to next week when the forecast calls for above-normal temperatures in much of the eastern two-thirds of the U.S.; moderation will already be under way in many areas by the weekend.