NEW YORK: US natural gas futures edged up on Thursday after output declined in recent weeks, which could cut into the surplus of gas in storage this summer.
Front-month gas futures for July delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 3.1 cents, or 1.0 percent, to USD3.176 per million British thermal units (mmBtu).
The US Energy Information Administration said energy firms added a near-normal 73 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas to storage during the week ended June 12.
That was in line with the 75-bcf build analysts forecast in a Reuters poll and compares with an increase of 97 bcf during the same week last year and a five-year (2021-2025) average increase of 73 bcf for the period.
Financial group LSEG said average gas output in the US Lower 48 states fell to 109.4 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) so far in June, down from 109.7 bcfd in May and a monthly record high of 110.6 bcfd in December 2025.
Meteorologists forecast the weather will remain mostly warmer than normal through July 3, which should boost the amount of gas power generators burn to keep air conditioners humming. About 40 percent of US power generation comes from gas-fired plants.
But with slightly cooler weather expected next week, LSEG projected average gas demand in the Lower 48 states, including exports, would fall from 103.7 bcfd this week to 102.5 bcfd next week. Those forecasts were lower than LSEG’s outlook on Wednesday.
Average gas flows to the nine big US LNG export plants held at 17.1 bcfd so far in June, the same as in May due to lingering spring maintenance at several plants. That compares with a monthly record high of 18.8 bcfd in April.
The remnants of Tropical Storm Arthur were moving across the US Southeast and had a small 10 percent chance of re-strengthening into a cyclone after reaching the Atlantic Ocean off the coasts of Virginia and North Carolina over the next week, according to the US National Hurricane Center.
Since most US gas comes from shale formations located far from the Gulf of Mexico, analysts have said tropical storms tend to reduce gas demand more than output by knocking out power to homes and businesses and shutting LNG export plants.
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