NEW YORK: US natural gas futures held near a six-week low on Monday on forecasts for milder weather over the next two weeks than previously expected, near-record output, ample amounts of gas in storage, and recent declines in gas prices around the world.
Front-month gas futures for January delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 1.8 cents, or 0.4percent, to USD4.095 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), putting the contract on track for its lowest close since October 30 for a second day in a row. That also kept the front-month in technically oversold territory for a second day in a row for the first time since August.
In the cash market, average prices at the Waha Hub in the Permian shale basin in West Texas remained in negative territory for a fourth day in a row as pipeline constraints trapped gas in the nation’s biggest oil-producing basin.
It was the 35th time Waha prices traded below zero this year and compares with an average of USD1.21 per mmBtu so far in 2025, 77 cents in 2024, and USD2.91 over the previous five years (2019-2023).
Waha first averaged below zero in 2019. It did so 17 times in 2019, six times in 2020, once in 2023, and a record 49 times in 2024.
Financial firm LSEG said average gas output in the Lower 48 states had risen to 109.7 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) so far in December, up from a monthly record high of 109.6 bcfd in November.
On a daily basis, output was on track to drop to a three-week low of 108.9 bcfd, down about 2.4 bcfd since hitting a daily record high of 111.3 bcfd on November 28.
Record output has allowed energy companies to stockpile more gas than usual so far this year, leaving the amount of fuel in storage at about 1percent above normal.
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