NEW YORK: US natural gas futures slid about 3% on Friday on record output and forecasts for mild weather and low heating demand through mid November, that should allow utilities to inject more gas into storage than usual for at least a few more weeks.

That price decline came despite the return to service from maintenance of Berkshire Hathaway Energy’s 0.8 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) Cove Point liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plant in Maryland, which will boost US demand for gas for exports.

The market was still waiting for the return of Freeport LNG’s plant in Texas.

Freeport has said it expects the facility to return to at least partial service in early- to mid-November following an unexpected shutdown on June 8 due to a pipeline explosion.

At least three vessels were heading to Freeport, according to Refinitiv data. Prism Brilliance and Prism Diversity were both waiting off the coast from the plant, while Prism Courage was expected to arrive on Nov. 1.

On its first day as the front-month, gas futures for December delivery fell 18 cents, or 3.1%, from where the December contract closed on Thursday to $5.695 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) at 8:38 a.m. EDT (1238 GMT).

That put the front-month up about 10% for the day and on track for its highest close since Oct. 18 since the December contract was trading much higher than where the now expired November contract settled. That would be the front-month’s biggest daily percentage gain since mid September.

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