NEW YORK: US natural gas futures slid about 2percent to a two-week low on Thursday on a slight increase in daily output and expectations the amount of gas in storage will remain above normal levels for at least the next several weeks.
Front-month gas futures for July delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 5 cents, or 1.6percent, to USD3.135 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), putting the contract on track for its lowest close since May 27.
That price decline came ahead of a federal report expected to show energy firms added a slightly bigger-than-normal 99 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas to storage during the week ended June 5.
That compares with an increase of 110 bcf during the same week last year and a five-year (2021-2025) average increase of 95 bcf for the period.
Financial group LSEG said average gas output in the US Lower 48 states fell 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. The average so far for June is higher than the figure on Wednesday.
Meteorologists forecast the weather will remain mostly warmer than normal through June 26, which should boost the amount of gas that power generators burn to keep air conditioners humming. About 40percent of US power generation comes from gas-fired plants.
LSEG projected average gas demand in the Lower 48 states, including exports, would rise from 102.9 bcfd this week to 104.3 bcfd next week. Those forecasts were similar to LSEG’s outlook on Wednesday. Average gas flows to the nine big US LNG export plants fell from 17.1 bcfd in May to 16.5 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.
Those flows compare with a monthly LNG feedgas record high of 18.8 bcfd in April. In other LNG news, Cheniere Energy’s Corpus Christi export plant in Texas was on track to take in more gas on Thursday after trains 1-6 at the Midscale Stage 3 expansion shut down on Wednesday.
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