US Natural Gas Futures Rise to Eight-Week High on Warm Weather, LNG Flows
US natural gas futures rose to an eight-week high on Thursday due to rising flows to liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plants and forecasts of unseasonably warm weather.
The front-month gas futures contract for October delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange increased by 3.6 cents, or 1.2%, to $2.992 per million British thermal units (mmBtu).
This puts the contract on track for its highest close since July 9 for a second day in a row.
Analysts expect energy firms added 31 billion cubic feet of gas to storage during the week ended August 28, compared to an increase of 50 bcf during the same week last year and a five-year average of 37 bcf.
With hot weather last week, analysts said the amount of gas in storage likely eased to 5.3% above normal from 5.5% above normal the previous week.
The US became the world's biggest LNG exporter in 2023, surpassing Australia and Qatar, as surging global prices fed demand for more low-cost US gas.