Natural gas dropped below $4 a million British thermal units Thursday, down from nearly $4.50 at the beginning of the week, as milder weather forecasts lowered demand expectations. Natural gas for December delivery settled down 20.8 cents, or 5%, at $3.977 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Natural gas rallied in recent weeks on expectations that an early winter cold snap would lift demand, as people turned up the heat in homes and offices. About half of U.S. households use natural gas as their primary heating fuel. But the cold spell is likely to dissipate within two weeks, according to recent weather forecasts. “While next week still shows powerhouse widespread strong early season cold for the Midwest, East, and South…the end of next week starts the process of unraveling the cold pattern,” said forecaster Commodity Weather Group […]