NEW YORK: US natural gas futures held near a three-week low on Wednesday on forecasts for less cold weather and lower demand this week than previously expected and with an increase in gas output so far this month.
That lack of price movement came despite forecasts for more demand next week than previously expected and record gas flows to liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plants since the return in February of Freeport LNG’s plant in Texas from an eight-month outage.
Front-month gas futures for April delivery fell 0.9 cents, or 0.4%, to $2.329 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) at 9:26 a.m. EDT (1326 GMT). On Friday, the contract fell about 7% to close at its lowest since Feb. 23.
The gas market has been extremely volatile in recent weeks as traders bet on the latest weather forecasts.
The front-month fell to a 28-month low below $2 per mmBtu in intraday trade on Feb. 22 on forecasts for warmer weather before jumping 9% on colder forecasts to settle at a five-week high above $3 just over a week later on March 3. It plunged 15% on March 6 on a warmer outlook.
Freeport LNG’s export plant was on track to pull in 0.8 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) of gas for a third day in a row on Monday, according to data provider Refinitiv.
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