Natural gas prices rose slightly Friday as buyers positioned themselves for the coming peak winter demand season. Natural gas for November delivery gained 1.4 cents, or 0.4%, at $3.859 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Trading stayed within an 5.5-cent range. The contract lost 4.5% for the week, with weather too comfortable for any spike in heating or cooling demand to absorb record supply. Gas has largely stayed within $3.80 to $4/mmBtu since mid-July, and is now trading back in the middle of that range. Record supply from the domestic oil and gas boom has capped prices, but days like Friday have kept them from falling too far. Many traders are anticipating demand spikes from the peak winter heating season and will buy back in as prices fall toward $3.80/mmBtu. Friday’s gains followed two days of losses. “The market is just […]