US Natgas Prices Hover at 3-Week High

US natural gas futures hovered around $3.56/MMBtu, the highest in three weeks, driven by increased demand for cooling amid hotter-than-normal weather.

Power generators are burning more gas to meet air conditioning needs.

Also, forecasts show continued high temperatures across the Lower 48 states through early August, with next week likely to bring the summer’s peak heat.

In addition, LNG exports are climbing, with flows to export terminals averaging 15.8 bcf/day so far in July, up from 14.3 bcf/day in June, as some plants recover from maintenance and outages.

Output is also rising, hitting 107.0 bcf/day in July, surpassing the prior record of 106.4 bcf/day set in June.

Meanwhile, a federal report showed that strong production allowed energy firms to inject 46 billion cubic feet (bcf) into storage for the week ending July 11, well above last year’s 18 bcf and the 5-year average of 41 bcf.

Gas stockpiles now sit about 6.2% above the seasonal norm.