LONDON (Commodity Online): Natural Gas gave back exactly half of yesterday's bullish-storage-induced gains, shaving a Nickel off the prompt month contact and four cents off calendar 2012.
As a result, the September contract settled at $4.06/MMBtu and 2012 closed at $4.59. Gas continued to post gains on the day, but then reversed course and settled lower.
The updated forecast features a bit of cooling in the near term, but then hotter weather in the longer-term forecast. It is not clear if gas prices took their cue from the short-term weather read.
The gas-directed rig count added a hearty 13 rigs on the week, climbing to 896 and marking the first time in some months that the rig count has climbed above the year-to-date average.
Almost all cash points were up on the day. Henry Hub climbed 11 cents, to $4.17. SoCalBorder added 6 cents, to $4.17. New York rose 4 cents, to $4.38.
