Natural Gas Futures End Year With Another Weekly Loss

Natural gas futures close out the year with a whimper as the front month falls for the seventh time in eight weeks as a mild December dampened demand and participants are left waiting for confirmation of much colder weather to lift use in January. Natural gas for February delivery settles down 1.7%, or 4 cents, at $2.514/mBtu. Gas prices rose after Thursday's above-estimate but below-average 87-Bcf draw on storage, but too little to avoid a loss going into the holiday weekend.