NEW YORK: US natural gas futures slid about 3 percent to an eight-month low on Tuesday on near-record output, ample supplies of the fuel in storage and forecasts of cooler weather and lower demand than previously expected through late August.
The price decline was accompanied by a drop in daily gas flows to liquefied natural gas export plants and the approach of a storm that could hit the US East Coast as a demand-destroying hurricane next week.
Front-month gas futures for September delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 8 cents, or 2.7 percent, to $2.874 per million British thermal units by 9:34 a.m. EDT (1334 GMT), putting the contract on track for its lowest close since November 15. The US National Hurricane Center projected Tropical Storm Erin will strengthen into a major hurricane as it moves west across the Atlantic Ocean toward the Bahamas over the next week.