NEW YORK: US natural gas futures held steady on Friday, supported by rising gas flows to liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plants and forecasts for near record-breaking heat over the next few days but pressured by rising output, formation of a likely demand-killing storm near Florida and a tremendous oversupply of gas in storage.

Front-month gas futures for September delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 0.1 cents to settle at $1.967 per million British thermal units.

For the week, the contract declined about 2%, putting it down for a third week in a row and the seventh time in eight weeks. During those eight weeks, the contract has lost about 32%.

That near record-breaking heat could boost the amount of gas power generators burn to keep air conditioners humming over the next few days.

There was currently about 16% more gas in storage than is normal for this time of year.

Storage builds have been smaller than normal in 11 of the past 12 weeks because several producers cut output earlier in the year after futures prices dropped to 3-1/2-year lows in February and March.

Higher prices in April and May, however, prompted some drillers, including EQT and Chesapeake Energy, to boost output. But after prices dropped 22% in July, some analysts said producers could keep their drilling activities lower for longer.