NEW YORK: US natural gas futures eased to a two-month low on Thursday on rising output, lower liquefied natural gas export flows, and ample amounts of gas in storage after a near-normal weekly storage build.
Front-month gas futures for August delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 3.6 cents, or 1.2 percent, to USD2.888 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), putting the contract on track for its lowest close since May 13.
The US Energy Information Administration said energy firms added 41 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas to storage during the week ended July 10.
That was close to the 43-bcf build analysts forecast in a Reuters poll and compares with an increase of 47 bcf during the same week last year and a five-year (2021-2025) average increase of 45 bcf for the period.
Looking ahead, futures for calendar 2027 fell to USD3.34 per mmBtu, their lowest since February 2022.
Financial group LSEG said average gas output in the US Lower 48 states rose to 110.3 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) so far in July from 110.0 bcfd in June, but remained below the monthly record high of 110.6 bcfd in December 2025.
Analysts said mostly mild weather during the spring allowed energy firms to stockpile more gas than usual. As they wait for a federal report on Thursday, they projected the amount of gas in storage eased to 6.4 percent above normal during the week ended July 10, down from 6.6 percent during the previous week.
Meteorologists forecast the weather would remain mostly warmer than normal through July 31, forcing power generators to burn lots of gas to keep air conditioners humming. About 40 percent of US power generation comes from gas-fired plants.
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