Weekly natural gas cash prices spiked amid snowstorms, frosty temperatures and mounting heating demand across the Midwest and large swaths of the East.

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NGI’s Weekly Spot Gas National Avg. for the Jan. 3-7 period jumped $1.180 cents to $5.165.

Conditions were particularly ripe for physical market demand on Wednesday and Thursday, a stretch during which temperatures plunged and cash prices soared by nearly $2.00. Bitterly cold temperatures fueled robust heating demand first in the Midwest and then in the Northeast, as freezing temperatures expanded from the nation’s midsection over the Great Lakes and into New England.

Pipeline capacity is limited in the Northeast, in particular, making the region susceptible to wild price swings during the peak heating demand season....