CHICAGO: US natural gas futures held steady on Tuesday as forecasts for lower demand this week offset an outlook calling for the hot weather and high air conditioning use to continue into early September.

Front-month gas futures fell 0.5 cents, or 0.1%, to $3.940 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) at 8:14 a.m. EDT (1214 GMT). On Monday, the contract closed at its highest since Aug. 16.

In the power market, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), grid operator for most of the state, projected hot weather on Tuesday would push peak demand over the grid's all-time high of 74,820 megawatts set in August 2019. ERCOT, however, also forecast Monday's demand would reach record levels, only to pull back that outlook after the weather was cooler than expected.