El Encino via Tarahumara ($U.S./MMBtu) Natural Gas Price Snapshot

North America is swimming in natural gas and global demand still lags, but within a few months, opportunities are expected to open up as Gulf Coast and Western Canada exports expand and storage levels decline.

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.