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Natural gas futures bulls tried and failed to keep the recent rally going Tuesday, with prices easing lower as traders weighed late-season heat against an upcoming slate of potentially plump storage injections. The October Nymex contract settled 1.3 cents lower at $2.668/MMBtu after trading as high as $2.710 and as low as $2.628. November settled at $2.700, down 2.5 cents.

As traders factored in warmer forecast changes against a backdrop of broader energy market volatility following a major attack in Saudi Arabia over the weekend, natural gas futures climbed several cents Monday. The October Nymex contract settled 6.7 cents higher at $2.681/MMBtu, while November climbed 7.2 cents to $2.725.

Mexico’s state power utility, the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE), has approved the construction of three natural gas-fired combined cycle power plants with total capacity of 1,720MW. The projects will be built in the center and northeast of the country, the company said in a statement.

It was probably something other than superstition that had bears fleeing the natural gas futures market Friday even as analysts continued to point to oversupply conditions. The October Nymex contract rallied 4.0 cents to settle at $2.614/MMBtu. November surged 4.8 cents to $2.653.

Mexico’s government and national oil company, Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), are in no position to embark on a reversal of the country’s nascent energy sector liberalization, according to three experts from Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.

Natural gas bulls regained some of their lost momentum Thursday after last week’s heat helped produce a smaller-than-expected inventory build in the latest government storage data. After slipping during the previous two sessions, the October Nymex contract gained 2.2 cents to settle at $2.574/MMBtu; November added 1.6 cents to $2.605. In the spot market, cooler…

Editor’s Note: NGI’s Mexico Gas Price Index, a leader tracking Mexico natural gas market reform, is offering the following question-and-answer (Q&A) column as part of a regular interview series with experts in the Mexican natural gas market.

With another hefty weekly inventory build expected this week, and with analysts pointing to a possible end to the recent short-covering rally, natural gas futures declined at the front of the curve for a second straight session Wednesday. The October Nymex contract settled 2.8 cents lower at $2.552/MMBtu, while November dropped 3.1 cents to $2.589.