Natural gas futures treaded water early Friday as weather models backed off the intensity of a coming heat wave and as cash prices continued to fall. Traders also had time to fully digest another loose government inventory report. However, it was lingering pipeline issues and a warmer move in the latest weather outlooks that ultimately sent the July Nymex futures contract up 5.6 cents to close the week at $3.097.

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At A Glance:

  • Production falls to 97 Bcf/d
  • Forecasts for mixed demand
  • NGI models draw of 41 Bcf

Spot gas prices continued to soften ahead of the weekend, but big gains on the East Coast tempered the declines. NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. edged up 1.5 cent to $2.760.

Friday’s early range-bound trading is consistent with how trading behavior typically goes at the...