NEW YORK: US natural gas futures slipped on Wednesday as liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports dropped to an 18-month low as vessels steered clear of Hurricane Laura.

The price move came despite a drop in output to its lowest since 2018 as producers shut offshore wells ahead of the storm.

Hurricane Laura strengthened into a major Category 4 storm with sustained winds of 145 miles per hour (233 kph) before slamming into the Gulf Coast near the Texas-Louisiana border tonight.

On its second to last day as the front-month, gas futures for September delivery fell 2.8 cents, or 1.1%, to settle at $2.461 per million British thermal units (mmBtu).

The October contract, which will soon be the front-month, was down 2.5% to $2.57 per mmBtu, which would still be the highest close for the front-month since Nov. 22.

Although US, European and Asian gas contracts mostly trade on their own fundamentals, a 76% jump in prices at the Netherlands Title Transfer Facility (TTF) in Europe and a 57% increase at the Japan-Korea Marker (JKM) in Asia so far in August have made US LNG more attractive in global markets, which helped push US gas futures up about 41% this month.

On a daily basis, US LNG exports were on track to fall to 2.8 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd), their lowest since February 2019, as exporters shut or reduced output at their Gulf Coast terminals ahead of Laura. The amount of gas flowing to Cheniere Energy Inc's Sabine Pass plant in Louisiana fell to zero for the first time since it started operating in 2016.

US output, meanwhile, was on track to drop to 84.2 bcfd, its lowest since September 2018, according to preliminary data from Refinitiv.