Like the proverbial egg on the sidewalk, smothering summer temperatures had natural gas markets cooking during the trading week ended July 22. From coast to coast, most natural gas spot price hubs added more than a dollar in value, with the NGI’s Weekly Spot Gas National Average ascending $1.520 week/week to $8.250/MMBtu.

Henry Hub rallied $1.010 to close out the July 18-22 trading period (July 19-25 delivery) at $7.735. Most regional hubs saw weekly gains more or less in line with the national benchmark.

A notable exception was in the historically constrained New England market, where demand hubs like Algonquin Citygates, up $6.210 week/week to $12.440, surged to exorbitant premiums. Farther upstream in Appalachia, Texas Eastern M-3, Delivery jumped $2.000 to $8.060.

The...