Natural gas futures were down sharply in early trading Monday, pressured by a warmer weather outlook and production coming back online following last week’s cold-related disruptions. The March Nymex contract was down 13.8 cents to $2.931/MMBtu at around 8:50 a.m. ET.

NGI Morning Natural Gas Price & Markets Coverage

Forecasts trended warmer over the weekend, showing a warmer than normal pattern for early March, according to Bespoke Weather Services. The warmer outlook is a result of a “strong” positive Eastern Pacific Oscillation combined with “less negativity” in the North Atlantic Oscillation, the firm said.

“Of course, weather is not the only focus of the market, as we needed to see how quickly production would come back, and it is returning rather rapidly, though it does remain a few Bcf off the levels from...