NEW YORK: US natural gas futures eased about 1percent on Monday on rising output, a decline in liquefied natural gas export flows, and forecasts for lower demand this week than previously expected.
Front-month gas futures for August delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) fell 0.2 cent, or 0.7percent, to USD2.891 per million British thermal units (mmBtu). With futures down about 12percent so far this month, 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 rose to 110.5 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) so far in July, up 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, analysts projected the amount of gas in storage likely rose to 6.5percent above normal during the week ended July 17, up from 6.4percent above during the previous week.
Meteorologists forecast the weather would remain mostly warmer than normal through August 4, forcing power generators to continue burning lots of gas 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 111.0 bcfd this week to 111.6 bcfd next week. The forecast for this week was lower than LSEG’s outlook on Friday, while its forecast for next week was higher.
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