NEW YORK: U.S. natural gas futures slid about 2% to a fresh three-month low as record output and reduced liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports allow utilities to keep injecting much more gas into storage than usual.

That price decline, which is part of an eight-week trend, occurred despite forecasts for colder weather and higher heating demand next week than previously expected.

Major LNG outages include Berkshire Hathaway Energy’s shutdown on Oct. 1 of its 0.8 billion-cubic-feet-per-day (bcfd) Cove Point LNG export plant in Maryland for about three weeks of planned maintenance and the shutdown of Freeport LNG’s 2.0-bcfd plant in Texas for unplanned work after an explosion on June 8. Freeport expects the facility to return to at least partial service in early to mid-November. At least three vessels were heading to Freeport, according to Refinitiv data, including Prism Brilliance (currently located off the coast from the plant), Prism Diversity (expected to arrive Oct. 27) and Sea peak

Methane (Nov. 22). Some traders now believe Freeport will return in November while others believe the return will be delayed. Officials at Freeport said they remain on track to return the plant in November.