US Natgas Prices Jump 6% to 1-Week High on Increase in Flows to LNG Export Plants

That put the front-month up about 15% from where the July contract closed on Thursday when it was still the front-month.

For the week, the contract, however, was still down about 3% after gaining about 7% last week.

Even though meteorologists forecast the weather will remain hotter than normal for at least the next two weeks, those temperatures were not expected to return to the highs seen earlier this week.

In fact, some analysts have started to wonder if the market has already seen its highest price for the summer when it rose to around $4.15 per mmBtu on June 20 in anticipation of this week’s heat.

Futures for September 2025 started trading at a premium over August 2025 for the first time ever three days ago as the market bets supplies will be lower, demand will be higher and/or the surplus of gas in storage above normal levels will be lower (or even in a deficit) in September.

After adding more gas into storage than usual for 10 weeks in a row, analysts projected energy firms likely injected less gas than usual this week as power generators burned lots of the fuel to produce electricity to keep air conditioners humming during a brutal heat wave.

SUPPLY AND DEMAND

Financial firm LSEG said average gas output in the Lower 48 U.S. states rose to 105.6 billion cubic feet per day so far in June, up from 105.2 bcfd in May, but still below the monthly record high of 106.3 bcfd in March due primarily to normal spring pipeline maintenance earlier in the month.

Meteorologists forecast weather across the Lower 48 states will remain mostly warmer than normal through at least July 12.

With more summer heat still to come, LSEG forecast average gas demand in the Lower 48, including exports, would rise from 103.9 bcfd this week to 106.0 bcfd next week and the week after. The forecasts for this week and next week were similar to LSEG’s outlook on Thursday.

The average amount of gas flowing to the eight big U.S. LNG export plants fell to 14.2 bcfd so far in June, down from 15.0 bcfd in May and a monthly record high of 16.0 bcfd in April. The feedgas average for June, however, was up a bit from where it was earlier in the month as units at some LNG plants returned from maintenance reductions.

The U.S. became the world’s biggest LNG supplier in 2023, surpassing Australia and Qatar, as surging global prices fed demand for more exports, due in part to supply disruptions and sanctions linked to Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Gas was trading at a four-week low of around $11 per mmBtu at the Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF) benchmark in Europe and a two-week low of around $13 at the Japan Korea Marker (JMM) benchmark in Asia.

(Reporting by Scott DiSavino; editing by Diane Craft)