US natgas futures ease on lower demand forecasts

US natural gas futures fell on Monday on forecasts for warmer than normal weather that could result in lower heating demand along with fears of a hit to gas consumption from the new coronavirus strain.

Front-month gas futures lost 1.5 cents, or 0.6%, at $2.685 per million British thermal units at 9:42 a.m. EST (1442 GMT).

"Weather models are forecasting near normal temperatures over the next two week, which, coupled with the warm start to this week (resulting in lower weather-related demand) and the less colder outlook, are driving prices lower this morning," said Robert DiDona of Energy Ventures Analysis.

Data provider Refinitiv projected demand, including exports, would fall to an average of 121.6 bcfd this week from 124.3 bcfd in the prior week.

The natural gas market fell alongside a broader sell-off in oil and equity markets after a new variant of the coronavirus forced many countries to impose travel restrictions to and from the United Kingdom.

"This market appears to be seeing some bearish spillover from the sharp selloff in the other industrial commodities and equities related to the UK Covid-19 developments that could potentially force a widespread increase in population lockdowns across Europe that could easily spread to the US," Ritterbusch and Associates said in a note.

Output in the Lower 48 US states has averaged 90.9 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) so far in December. That compares with a seven-month high of 91.0 bcfd in November 2020 and an all-time monthly high of 95.4 bcfd in November 2019.

The amount of gas flowing to US LNG export plants, meanwhile, has averaged 10.7 bcfd so far in December, which would top November's 9.8-bcfd record.