A powerful winter storm delivered a swift kick to spot natural gas prices on the West and East coasts during the Feb. 21-24 work week, fueling multi-dollar gains amid heavy snow and rain and gusty winds. With moderate losses elsewhere of less than 30 cents or so, NGI’s Weekly Spot Gas National Avg. ultimately finished 94.5 cents higher at $3.770.

During a week in which prompt-month Nymex gas futures slipped below $2.00, the strong short-term weather demand and continued momentum by Freeport LNG toward a full restart combined to fuel a recovery late in the week. With expiration on Friday, the March Nymex contract rolled off the board at $2.451, up 13.7 cents on the day and up 17.6 cents from the prior week.

Though natural gas cash prices crumbled on Friday, gains posted earlier...