Weekly natural gas cash prices were mixed at locations nationwide as the Christmas holiday-shortened week sapped demand while some colder weather provided support. Meanwhile, futures staged a recovery on a bullish storage report, then whimpered into the New Year’s holiday weekend.

NGI’s Weekly Spot Gas National Avg. for the Dec. 26-28 trading period for December delivery fell 19.0 cents to $2.145. 

February Nymex natural gas rallied on its first day as the front-month contract Thursday before closing Friday down 4.3 cents day/day at $2.514/MMBtu, but above its prior week’s $2.490 finish. 

With temperatures falling across portions of the country in an early winter blast, natural gas cash prices at some key locations rose during the truncated workweek.

The largest...