NEW YORK: US natural gas futures slid on Monday as output slowly rises and the weather turns milder than normal for this time of year, which should allow utilities to start injecting gas into storage next week - about a week earlier than usual.

That price decline, which also followed a big drop in oil and global gas prices, came even though global gas prices continued to trade around eight times over US futures, keeping demand for US liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports at a record high.

US LNG exports have remained strong for months as global oil and gas prices traded at or near record highs - especially since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 stoked global energy supply concerns. Russia is the world’s second-biggest gas producer behind the United States.