Cold weather blanketing much of the United States this week boosted spot natural gas prices for Thursday to their highest since January in several regions, while natural gas futures slid 10 percent as investors took profits after a rally that had lifted them to their highest levels in nearly four years. Front-month gas futures rose as high as $4.929 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) on Wednesday, their highest since February 2014. Traders said the cold this week would force utilities to start withdrawing gas from storage caverns that are already around 16 percent below normal for this time of year, prompting concerns of possible gas shortages in some parts of the country later this winter. Next-day prices for Thursday, meanwhile, rose to their highest since January at the Henry Hub benchmark in Louisiana, Dominion South in Pennsylvania and Chicago citygate. Next-day gas at the Henry Hub […]