U.S. natural gas futures edged up about 1% on Thursday on near-record flows to liquefied natural gas export plants that will boost demand for the fuel.
That price increase came ahead of a federal report expected to show last week’s storage build was smaller than usual for this time of year.
Analysts forecast that energy firms injected 32 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas into storage during the week ended October 31.
That compares with an increase of 68 bcf during the same week last year and an average build of 42 bcf over the past five years (2020-2024).
Front-month gas futures for December delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 5.5 cents, or 1.3%, to $4.287 per million British thermal units (mmBtu).
The small price increase kept the front-month in technically overbought territory for a sixth straight day for the first time since May 2024.
In the cash market, meanwhile, average prices at the Waha Hub in the Permian Shale in West Texas remained in negative territory for a third day in a row as pipeline constraints trapped gas in the nation’s biggest oil-producing basin.
It was the 25th time Waha prices have dropped below zero this year and compares with an average of $1.33 per mmBtu so far in 2025, 77 cents in 2024, and $2.91 over the previous five years (2019-2023).
Waha first averaged below zero in 2019. It did so 17 times in 2019, six times in 2020, once in 2023, and a record 49 times in 2024.
SUPPLY AND DEMAND
LSEG said average gas output in the Lower 48 states rose to 108.7 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) so far in November, up from 107.0 bcfd in October and a record monthly high of 108.0 bcfd in August.
Record output so far this year has allowed energy companies to inject more gas into storage than usual. There was about 4% more gas in storage than normal for this time of year.
Meteorologists forecast temperatures across the country will remain mostly warmer than normal through November 21, which should limit heating demand.
LSEG projected average gas demand in the Lower 48 states, including exports, would jump from 108.5 bcfd this week to 118.4 bcfd next week. Those forecasts were similar to LSEG’s outlook on Wednesday.
The average amount of gas flowing to the eight big U.S. LNG export plants rose to 17.4 bcfd so far in November, up from a record 16.6 bcfd in October, and those flows are on track to rise further in coming months.
The Imsaikah LNG vessel was moving south across the Indian Ocean toward the Atlantic Ocean and Exxon Mobil QatarEnergy’s 2.4-bcfd Golden Pass LNG export plant under construction in Texas, according to LSEG data and analysts’ comments.
The ship, which was expected to arrive at Golden Pass around December 1, is carrying LNG from Qatar that traders and analysts say will be used to cool equipment at the plant as part of its commissioning. The facility is expected to start producing and exporting LNG later this year or early next year.
Source: Reuters
