August natural gas futures continued to trade sideways Friday, dipping before rebounding toward the $3.00/MMBtu mark as traders balanced short-term demand fluctuations against robust production and ample supplies. ExpandHere's the latest:August futures toy with $3Technical range holdsAugust New York Mercantile Exchange natural gas futures were up 0.3 cents to $2.919 as of 11:40 a.m. Storage overhang lingersBullish surprise fadesThursday's smaller-than-expected 32 Bcf storage injection continued to lend underlying support, but ample inventories kept a lid on gains. Electric power consumption fell to 46.3 Bcf/d Thursday, down 1.0 Bcf/d day/day and 5.2 Bcf/d from a week earlier. Total demand slipped to 110.8 Bcf/d, off 1.3 Bcf/d day/day and 5.3 Bcf/d week/week, outweighing continued declines in supply.