Warnings from meteorologists about the potential for polar vortex weather to develop in the central and eastern US later this month are fueling a rally in Appalachia’s balance-of-winter gas market, where wellhead freeze-offs could pose a significant and prolonged risk to upstream supply in the region. Since late December, first-quarter forwards prices at Appalachian benchmark Dominion South have surged to their highest since mid-November, gaining nearly 30%, or about 50 cents, to settle at an average $2.27/MMBtu on Jan. 7, S&P Global Platts’ most recently published forwards data shows. In the Northeast market area, where production freeze-offs pose a lower immediate risk to supply, the rise in prices […]