The NYMEX April natural gas futures contract settled 0.8 cent lower at $3.927/MMBtu on Friday as market players weighed supportive weather forecasts against Thursday's bearish storage pull.
"Weather outlooks maintain their bullish influence as temperatures remain below the norm for the eastern half of the US over the coming weeks, giving further encouragement for a test of breaking into four-dollardom," said Schneider Electric analyst Matt Smith.
The contract ventured briefly into the area above $4/MMBtu earlier, reaching $4.006/MMBtu intraday.
Yet, a bearish draw from storage on Thursday and the overbought condition of the market present some risk to the downside, according to sources.
The April contract traded between $3.913/MMBtu and $4.006/MMBtu.
