NEW YORK: US natural gas futures climbed along with oil prices, gaining about 3percent to a seven-week high on Friday on a drop in output that was expected to reduce the current gas storage surplus.
Front-month gas futures for June delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 7.3 cents, or 2.5percent, to USD2.967 per million British thermal units (mmBtu).
That put the contract on track for its highest close since March 27 and pushed it into technically overbought territory for the first time since early May.
For the week, the front-month was up about 7percent after easing about 1percent last week. Looking forward, the futures strip for the front-year (currently 2027) fell to USD3.48 per mmBtu, its lowest since December 2024.
Financial firm LSEG said average gas output in the US Lower 48 states slid to 109.2 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) so far in May, down from 109.8 bcfd in April and a monthly record high of 110.6 bcfd in December 2025.
On a daily basis, output was on track to drop by 2.5 bcfd over the past five days to a preliminary 14-week low of 107.6 bcfd on Friday due mostly to declines in Arkansas and Louisiana. Preliminary data is often revised later in the day.
Analysts said mild weather earlier this spring allowed energy firms to inject more gas into storage. But, they noted output declines coupled with near-normal weather and higher demand in recent weeks likely reduced the inventory surplus to around 6percent above normal during the week ended May 15, down from 7percent above normal during the week ended May 8. Meteorologists forecast the weather will remain mostly near normal through May 30.
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