Open interest in natural gas futures markets rose by around 8.5K contracts on Monday, resuming the uptrend and leaving behind the previous pullback, according to advanced prints from CME Group. Volume, on the other hand, shrank for the second session in a row, this time by more than 21K contracts.

Natural Gas now points to $7.00

Prices of natural gas climbed to levels last seen back in November 2008 at the beginning of the week. The move was on the back of increasing open interest, opening the door to extra gains in the very near term and with the immediate target at the $7.00 mark per MMBtu.