Natural gas prices moved steadily higher in bidweek trading as markets absorbed prospects for continued strong weather-driven demand and robust liquefied natural gas (LNG) volumes. NGI’s August Bidweek National Avg. climbed 35.0 cents month/month to $3.900/MMBtu. 

It marked a distinct diversion from a year earlier, when the pandemic weighed on the demand outlook. The 2020 Bidweek National Avg. for August came in at only $1.680. 

Conditions during the covered week from July 26 to 30 were defined by intense heat in the West and across most of the nation’s midsection, according to NatGasWeather. Temperatures in the 90s and low 100s permeated much of the western half of the country. While bouts of cooler air were forecast in the Midwest and East this week, outlooks called for a...