Although the US will head into the winter with smaller natural gas inventories than in past years, natural gas prices are expected to remain relatively low as long as weather forecasts for “normal” winter temperatures hold true, the US Energy Information Administration said Wednesday. In its November Short-Term Energy Outlook, the EIA on Wednesday lowered its forecast for first quarter 2015 Henry Hub natural gas spot prices to $3.95/MMBtu, 5 cents below its estimate in October. The agency also lowered its fourth-quarter 2014 estimate by 3 cents to $3.98/MMBtu. EIA said in the report that spot prices would “rise slightly with winter heating demand” but otherwise stay low. It added that Henry Hub natural gas prices are projected to average $3.83/MMBtu in 2015. […]