US NatGas Futures Surge Amid Oil Price Hikes and Warmer Weather Forecasts
US natural gas futures rose by about 2% to a two-week high on Thursday due to higher oil prices and forecasts of hotter weather and increased demand. Oil futures jumped around 5% following supply disruption concerns in the Middle East after an attack on Saudi tankers.
The front-month gas futures for August delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose by 5.6 cents, or 1.9%, to $2.981 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), marking its highest close since July 9.
Analysts forecasted that energy firms added a larger-than-usual 35 billion cubic feet of gas to storage during the week ended July 17, which is higher than the same period last year and the five-year average. However, despite this increase, gas prices rose due to forecasts of continued warmer weather, with meteorologists predicting mostly normal temperatures through August 7.
The US became the world's largest LNG exporter in 2023, surpassing Australia and Qatar, as global prices surged due to supply disruptions linked to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the US-Israeli war with Iran in 2026. Global gas prices are trading near a 42-month high at around $21 per mmBtu at the Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF) benchmark.