NEW YORK: US natural gas futures slid about 3percent on Monday on forecasts for less demand this week than previously expected.
Front-month gas futures for July delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) fell 11.3 cents, or 3.4percent, to USD3.177 per million British thermal units (mmBtu). On Friday, the contract closed at its highest price since February 6. Even though futures gained 19percent in May, speculators last week boosted their net short futures and options positions on the NYMEX and Intercontinental Exchange to their highest levels since April 2024, according to the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Commitments of Traders report.
Financial group LSEG said average gas output in the US Lower 48 states fell to 109.6 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) in May, down from 109.8 bcfd in April and a monthly record high of 110.6 bcfd in December 2025.
Meteorologists forecast the weather will remain mostly warmer than normal through June 16, which should boost the amount of gas that power generators burn to keep air conditioners humming. About 40percent of US electricity generation comes from gas-fired power plants.
LSEG projected average gas demand in the Lower 48 states, including exports, would rise from 98.4 bcfd this week to 101.4 bcfd next week. The forecast for this week was lower than LSEG’s outlook on Friday.
Average gas flows to the nine big US LNG export plants fell from a monthly record high of 18.8 bcfd in April to 17.1 bcfd in May due to spring maintenance at several plants, including ExxonMobil/QatarEnergy’s Golden Pass facility and Freeport LNG’s plant in Texas. There is still only one vessel going directly from the US to China. That ship, the Al Sene, left Venture Global’s Plaquemines plant in Louisiana in mid-May and is expected to reach its destination in late June. That count is down from as many as five vessels over the prior week or so.
No LNG tanker has left a US export plant and gone directly to China during US President Donald Trump’s second term, which started in January 2025, due primarily to trade disputes between the world’s two biggest economies.
China, which imported a large amount of US gas in the past and has many contracts to buy US LNG, is the world’s biggest gas importer, while the US is the world’s biggest gas producer, consumer and exporter. Chinese companies have bought US LNG and then sold it to buyers in other countries.
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