NEW YORK: US natural gas futures touched an over two-week peak on Friday, aided by forecasts for hotter weather and higher demand for the next week.

Front-month gas futures for September delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 1.6 cents, or about 0.8%, to settle at $2.14 per million British thermal units. The contract was up about 9% so far this week, its biggest weekly gain since June 7.

Natural gas is getting boosted by a return of some warm weather and the report was fairly supportive, “so production restraint talk along with expected better demand has given the market a little bit of support from these historically low prices,” said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Price Futures Group. The US Energy Information Administration said utilities added 21 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas into storage during the week ended Aug. 2.

LSEG said gas output in the Lower 48 states had risen to an average of 102.9 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) so far in August, down from 103.4 bcfd in July. That compares with a monthly record high of 105.5 bcfd in December 2023.

“Fundamentally, this market is currently riding a supportive wave driven by warmer temperature expectations during the next couple of weeks,” energy advisory firm Ritterbusch and Associates said in a note.

LSEG forecast average gas demand in the Lower 48 states, including exports, to fall to 104.0 bcfd this week from 109.9 bcfd last week, before rising to 105.1 bcfd next week.

Asian spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices remained at their highest level in over seven months, tracking European gains amid concerns over supply disruption.

Meanwhile, Dutch wholesale gas briefly traded at the highest level this year so far on Friday morning but later eased as Russian gas continued to flow via Ukraine despite ongoing fights near a key transit point in Russia.