U.S. natural gas futures settle fractionally lower as the market weighs counterbalancing factors--on the bullish side less U.S. production and a cold wave forecast for parts of the U.S. over the weekend to lift demand, and on the bearish side weak LNG feedgas demand and a still massive storage surplus despite this week's slight reduction. After an exceptionally mild winter curbed heating demand, the market is looking to a hotter-than-usual summer to lift consumption. "The expectation is as the month of May progresses, daily CDDs [cooling degree days] will slowly gain in dominance to become the primary driver of U.S. demand as HDDs [heating degree days] drop to very light levels," forecasterNatGasWeather.com says in a note. The May contract settles off 0.3% at $1.752/mmBtu, down 1% on the week.