US natgas little changed as lower demand offsets record LNG exports

US natural gas futures held steady on Tuesday as forecasts for lower demand over the next two weeks offset an increase in liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to a fresh record high.

Front-month gas futures fell 0.2 cents, or 0.1%, to settle at $2.880 per million British thermal units.

Data provider Refinitiv said average output in the Lower 48 US states rose to a seven-month high of 91.0 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) in November, up from 87.8 bcfd in October.

Traders said some of that output increase was due to higher oil prices. Oil futures gained about 27% in November on expectations global energy demand and economic activity would rebound in 2021 once coronavirus vaccines become widely available.

Rising oil prices over the last few months encouraged energy firms to drill for more crude. Those oil wells also produce a lot of associated gas.

With a seasonal cooling of the weather, Refinitiv projected demand, including exports, would rise from 112.9 bcfd this week to 115.6 bcfd next week. But that was lower than Refinitiv forecast on Monday.

The amount of gas flowing to US LNG export plants averaged a record 9.9 bcfd in November, up from 7.7 bcfd in October, as rising prices in Europe and Asia in recent months prompted global buyers to purchase more US gas.

That tops the 9.8-bcfd US LNG export capacity and the prior all-time monthly high of 8.7 bcfd in February, which was before buyers started canceling cargoes due to coronavirus demand destruction.

LNG plants can pull in a little more gas than they can export since they use some of the fuel to run the facility. In addition, the third liquefaction train at Cheniere Energy Inc's Corpus Christi plant in Texas is pulling in gas as it prepares to enter commercial service.