NEW YORK: US natural gas futures eased about 1% on Tuesday on forecasts for less demand over the next two weeks than previously expected.

Traders noted another factor supporting the price decline was the tremendous oversupply of gas still in US storage. Analysts forecast gas stockpiles were about 25% above normal for this time of year.

Prices eased despite a preliminary drop in output to a 19-week low over the past few days. Traders, however, noted that preliminary production data is often revised later in the day.

Front-month gas futures for July delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 2.2 cents, or 0.8%, to $2.734 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) at 9:25 a.m. EDT (1325 GMT).