Open interest in natural gas futures markets shrank for the third consecutive session on Friday, this time by around 2.3K contracts, according to advanced prints from CME Group. Volume reversed two daily builds in a row and went down by around 145.5K contracts.

Natural Gas could retest $3.60/MMBtu

Friday’s decent gains in prices of natural gas was supported by short covering, as noted by declining open interest and volume. Against this, further gains appear not favoured in the very near term, with the door still open to a visit to the $3.60 region per MMBtu, or December lows.