NEW YORK: US natural gas futures fell more than 3 percent on Wednesday as analysts anticipated the US Energy Information Administration’s weekly report would show a larger-than-normal build in stocks, and as a cooler weather forecast and easing demand also weighed.
Front-month gas futures for July delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange traded 10 cents lower, or 3.1 percent, to USD3.14 per million British thermal units as of 10:20 a.m. ET.
“Relatively high storage inventories in the injection season have provided reassurance to market participants, due in part to strong associated gas production resulting from elevated oil prices over the past several months,” said Zhen Zhu, managing consultant at C.H. Guernsey and Company in Oklahoma City.
Financial group LSEG showed average gas output in the US Lower 48 states at 109.4 billion cubic feet per day so far in June, down from 109.7 bcfd in May and a monthly record high of 110.6 bcfd in December 2025. Global oil prices have been elevated since the onset of the US-Israeli war on Iran in late February.
The US EIA’s weekly gas storage report is due on Thursday.
Analysts projected it would show the surplus of gas in inventory would rise to 6.1 percent above normal during the week ended June 12, up from about 6.0 percent above normal in the previous week.
“Prices remain under bearish pressure primarily because robust domestic production has thus far been sufficient to meet the increase in demand during the early summer season,” Zhu added.
LSEG forecast average gas demand in the Lower 48 states, including exports, would fall from 104.2 bcfd this week to 103 bcfd next week, as weather in the coming weeks is expected to be slightly cooler than previously expected.
Benchmark Dutch wholesale gas prices declined early on Wednesday as the market evaluated the prospects of a US-Iran agreement and as higher temperatures are expected in Europe.
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