California Regional Avg. MidDay Natural Gas Price Snapshot

With mixed weather patterns and a government inventory update only hours away, natural gas futures traded lower early Thursday.

Unable to gain traction, September Nymex natural gas futures saw early Wednesday gains ebbed away in favor of modest losses as tides were turning on fundamentals with lingering weather support expected to drift away into the fall shoulder season.

Natural gas futures seesawed in a narrow range of gains and losses for a second straight session on Wednesday. The prompt month hovered in the red by early afternoon trading as market participants weighed expectations for strong late-August cooling needs and bullish supply trends against expectations for retreating demand in the fall.

Permian Basin benchmark Waha cash prices, mired in a protracted slump amid limited natural gas takeaway capacity and a supply glut, may see the summer come and go without relief. But a massive new pipeline is slated to enter service this fall, promising to free up an abundance of associated gas and ease pricing pressure.

Natural gas futures traded in a narrow band early Wednesday as traders contemplated favorable late-summer fundamentals alongside the specter of fall weather and the inevitable swoon in cooling demand that it delivers.