NEW YORK: US natural gas futures pared earlier gains on Monday, but still climbed for a fourth straight session, lifted by seasonal demand and as record amounts of gas flowed to liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plants.

Front-month gas futures for January delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) settled 1.2 cents, or 0.5%, higher at $2.503 per million British thermal units, after having risen as much as 4.3% earlier.

“We’re seeing a little bit of weather-based demand creeping onto the maps ... There is more hope for the natural gas markets as we continue to see strong exports as the LNG terminals are consuming roughly 15 billion cubic feet a day and that’s going to continue,” said Gary Cunningham, director of market research at Tradition Energy.