NEW YORK: US natural gas futures fell about 4% on Friday on forecasts for less cold weather that will reduce heating demand in late November and early December.

Also weighing on gas prices were widespread expectations Freeport LNG will delay the restart of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plant in Texas to December or later.

In recent days, a couple of LNG vessels that were either heading for Freeport (LNG Rosenrot) or had waited outside the plant (Prism Brilliance) have moved on to other ports. LNG Rosenrot is now headed for Gibraltar, while Prism Brilliance is sitting outside Corpus Christi in Texas where Cheniere Energy Inc has an LNG export plant, ship tracking data from Refinitiv showed.

Federal pipeline safety regulators released a heavily redacted consultant’s report this week blaming inadequate operating and testing procedures, human error and fatigue for the June 8 explosion that shut the Freeport LNG plant.

Sources familiar with Freeport LNG’s filings with federal regulators have said this week that the company had not yet submitted a request to resume service to the US Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA).