US natgas prices higher

NEW YORK: US natural gas futures climbed about 4% to a seven-week high on Tuesday on forecasts for extremely cold weather next week that will boost demand to a record high.

In addition to sky-high gas demand, extreme cold could cause production to drop by freezing oil and gas wells, pipes and other energy equipment as happened in Texas in February 2021 and in Appalachia in December 2022. The industry calls freezing wells freeze-offs.

Ahead of that extreme cold, a massive winter storm was moving across the eastern half of the United States. So far, the storm has knocked out power to over 302,000 homes and businesses in nine states.