By Sumit Saha
Aug 25 (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas futures fell more than 3% to a one-week low on Tuesday, as a broader energy market selloff, easing summer cooling demand forecasts and weaker LNG export activity weighed on prices.
Front-month gas futures for September delivery NGc1 on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 7.1 cents, or 2.6%, to $2.7111 per million British thermal units, after hitting its lowest level since August 18.
Futures for October NGc2, which will soon be the front-month contract, held around $2.766 per mmBtu.
Prices are down due to a broader commodity market selloff, said Robert DiDona, president of Energy Ventures Analysis, adding that demand has weakened as the market exits a period of extreme summer heat, leading to looser U.S. supply-demand balances, while reduced LNG export plant output in recent days has added to pressure on prices.
Oil prices fell 3% to a one-week low as traders shrugged off the latest U.S. sanctions campaign against Iran, viewing economic pressure as posing less risk to oil supplies than a military escalation. O/R
Financial group LSEG projected average gas demand in the Lower 48 states, including exports, would remain unchanged at 111.2 bcfd from this week to next week. The forecast for next week was lower than LSEG's outlook on Monday.
"As the possibility of another weather-influenced price up-spike diminishes with this Thursday's rollover to the October contract as prompt month, this market will require some evidence of production slippage or an increase in export activity if the sizable storage surplus is to see a meaningful reduction in the coming weeks," consultancy Ritterbusch & Associates said in a note.
SUPPLY AND DEMAND
LSEG said average gas output in the U.S. Lower 48 states has reached 111.4 billion cubic feet per day so far in August, up from a monthly record high of 110.7 bcfd in July.
Average gas flows to the nine big U.S. LNG export plants stand at 17.1 bcfd so far in August, slightly down from 17.2 bcfd in July and a monthly record high of 17.4 bcfd in June.
Meanwhile, meteorologists forecast mostly warmer-than-normal temperatures through September 8, as Cooling Degree Days rose to 207 on Tuesday compared to 194 on Monday. CDDs measure energy demand to cool buildings.
Elsewhere, Benchmark Dutch and British wholesale gas prices declined as the market shrugged off the United States' push for tighter economic pressure on Iran. NG/EU
Week ended Aug 21 Forecast | Week ended Aug 14 Actual | Year ago Aug 21 | Five-year average (2021-2025) Aug 21 | ||
U.S. weekly natgas storage change (bcf): | +25 | +16 | +17 | +33 | |
U.S. total natgas in storage (bcf): | 3,194 | 3,169 | 3,214 | 3,017 | |
U.S. total storage versus 5-year average | +6.0% | +6.2% | |||
Global Gas Benchmark Futures ($ per mmBtu) | Current Day | Prior Day | This Month Last Year | Prior Year Average 2025 | Five-Year Average (2021-2025) |
Henry Hub NGc1 | 2.78 | 2.77 | 2.89 | 3.62 | 3.79 |
Title Transfer Facility (TTF) TRNLTTFMc1 | 22.89 | 23.35 | 11.13 | 11.94 | 18.51 |
Japan-Korea Marker (JKM) JKMc1 | 23.51 | 22.94 | 11.63 | 12.24 | 18.12 |
LSEG U.S. Global Forecast System (GFS) Heating, Cooling and Total Degree Days | |||||
Total Two-Week Forecast | Current Day | Prior Day | Prior Year | 10-Year Norm | 30-Year Norm |
U.S. GFS Heating Degree Days (HDD) | 6 | 6 | 18 | 8 | 9 |
U.S. GFS Cooling Degree Days (CDD) | 207 | 194 | 120 | 150 | 140 |
U.S. GFS Total Degree Days (TDD) | 213 | 200 | 138 | 158 | 150 |
LSEG U.S. Weekly GFS Supply and Demand Forecasts | |||||
Prior Week | Current Week | Next Week | This Week Last Year | Five-Year (2021-2025) Average for Month | |
U.S. Supply (bcfd) | |||||
U.S. Lower 48 Dry Production | 112.1 | 111.1 | 111.2 | N/A | 101.7 |
U.S. Imports from Canada | 6.9 | 6.8 | 7.5 | N/A | 7.7 |
U.S. LNG Imports | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | N/A | 0.0 |
Total U.S. Supply | 118.9 | 117.9 | 118.8 | N/A | 109.4 |
U.S. Demand (bcfd) | |||||
U.S. Exports to Canada | 2.5 | 2.6 | 2.6 | N/A | 2.3 |
U.S. Exports to Mexico | 7.5 | 7.6 | 7.5 | N/A | 6.7 |
U.S. LNG Export Feedgas | 17.2 | 16.6 | 16.9 | N/A | 11.4 |
U.S. Commercial | 4.6 | 4.6 | 4.7 | N/A | 4.7 |
U.S. Residential | 3.4 | 3.5 | 3.5 | N/A | 3.4 |
U.S. Power Plant | 49.5 | 46.5 | 46.2 | N/A | 45.3 |
U.S. Industrial | 21.8 | 21.8 | 21.9 | N/A | 21.1 |
U.S. Plant Fuel | 5.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | N/A | 5.3 |
U.S. Pipe Distribution | 2.3 | 2.2 | 2.2 | N/A | 3.2 |
U.S. Vehicle Fuel | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | N/A | 0.2 |
Total U.S. Consumption | 87.3 | 84.3 | 84.1 | N/A | 83.2 |
Total U.S. Demand | 114.5 | 111.2 | 111.2 | N/A | 103.6 |
N/A = Not Available | |||||
U.S. Northwest River Forecast Center (NWRFC) at The Dalles Dam (fiscal year ending September 30) | 2026 Current Day % of Normal Forecast | 2026 Prior Day % of Normal Forecast | 2025 % of Normal Actual | 2024 % of Normal Actual | 2023 % of Normal Actual |
Apr-Sep | 82 | 82 | 76 | 74 | 83 |
Jan-Jul | 90 | 90 | 78 | 76 | 77 |
Oct-Sep | 93 | 93 | 80 | 77 | 76 |
U.S. weekly power generation percent by fuel - EIA | |||||
Week ended Aug 28 | Week ended Aug 21 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | |
Wind | 8 | 6 | 11 | 11 | 10 |
Solar | 9 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 |
Hydro | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
Other | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Petroleum | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Natural Gas | 44 | 45 | 40 | 42 | 41 |
Coal | 17 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 17 |
Nuclear | 17 | 16 | 18 | 19 | 19 |
SNL U.S. Natural Gas Next-Day Prices ($ per mmBtu) | |||||
Hub | Current Day | Prior Day | This Month Last Year | Prior Year Average 2025 | Five-Year Average (2021-2025) |
Henry Hub NG-W-HH-SNL | 2.83 | 2.82 | 2.91 | 3.52 | 3.72 |
Transco Z6 New York NG-CG-NY-SNL | 1.57 | 1.58 | 2.23 | 3.53 | 3.56 |
PG&E Citygate NG-CG-PGE-SNL | 3.73 | 3.52 | 3.23 | 3.42 | 5.47 |
Eastern Gas (formerly Dominion South) NG-PCN-APP-SNL | 1.50 | 1.52 | 2.06 | 2.79 | 2.96 |
Chicago Citygate NG-CG-CH-SNL | 2.50 | 2.52 | 2.63 | 3.23 | 3.60 |
Algonquin Citygate NG-CG-BS-SNL | 1.72 | 1.80 | 2.55 | 6.08 | 5.04 |
SoCal Citygate NG-SCL-CGT-SNL | 4.40 | 4.20 | 3.41 | 3.60 | 5.71 |
Waha Hub NG-WAH-WTX-SNL | 1.98 | 2.12 | 1.57 | 1.03 | 2.88 |
AECO NG-ASH-ALB-SNL | 1.19 | 1.38 | 0.51 | 1.13 | 2.13 |
Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) U.S. Power Next-Day Prices ($ per megawatt-hour) | |||||
Hub | Current Day | Prior Day | This Month Last Year | Prior Year Average 2025 | Five-Year Average (2021-2025) |
New England E-NEPLMHP-IDX | 47.01 | 49.44 | 59.26 | 77.12 | 61.67 |
PJM West E-PJWHRTP-IX | 40.59 | 45.09 | 46.80 | 60.23 | 54.47 |
Mid-Columbia (Mid C) W-MIDCP-IDX | 80.56 | 75.09 | 50.02 | 44.81 | 68.96 |
Palo Verde W-PVP-IDX | 93.38 | 87.35 | 51.19 | 34.82 | 59.94 |
South Path-15 (SP-15) W-SP15-IDX | 69.11 | 58.09 | 38.33 | 28.44 | 53.02 |
(Reporting by Sumit Saha in Bengaluru, Editing by Nick Zieminski)