US natural gas futures hold near one-week low on lower demand forecasts

NEW YORK: US natural gas futures held at a one-week low on Wednesday as a bullish decline in output in recent weeks offset bearish forecasts for lower demand next week than previously expected.

Front-month gas futures for July delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 0.1 cent to USD3.166 per million British thermal units, putting the contract on track for its lowest close since May 27 for the third consecutive day.

Financial group LSEG said average gas output in the US Lower 48 states has dropped to 109.0 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) so far in June, down from 109.7 bcfd in May and a monthly record high of 110.6 bcfd in December 2025.

Analysts said mild weather allowed energy firms to stockpile more gas than usual during the spring.

But they noted recent output declines likely reduced the surplus of gas in inventories to around 5.9percent above normal during the week ended May 29, down from 6.2percent above normal in the previous week.

Meteorologists forecast the weather will remain mostly warmer than normal through June 18, which should boost demand for gas from power generators 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 98.3 bcfd this week to 99.9 bcfd next week. The forecast for next week was lower than LSEG’s outlook on Tuesday. Average gas flows to the nine big US LNG export plants fell from 17.1 bcfd in May to 16.3 bcfd so far in June due to ongoing spring maintenance at several plants, including ExxonMobil/QatarEnergy’s Golden Pass facility and Freeport LNG’s plant in Texas. That reading compares with a monthly record high of 18.8 bcfd in April.