March natural gas futures settled at $2.951/MMBtu Friday, up 11.7 cents, on updated weather forecasts calling for a higher probability of below-normal temperatures across a much greater portion of the US. Friday’s rally is “supported by both current intense cold and updated forecasts indicating that cooler-than-normal readings may persist into the first week of March,” said Tim Evans, energy futures specialist with Citi Futures Perspective. Aaron Calder, senior market analyst at Gelber & Associates, agreed. “Front-month prices have surged higher today in response to a substantial shift in domestic weather modeling,” Calder said. Updated weather forecasts calling for below-normal temperatures across key demand regions in the US “erased the argument for a March warm-up and forced bearish traders to price in the potential for a long-term cold snap,” Calder added. Calder believes that, despite robust gas production growth and supply levels, the potential […]