NEW YORK: US natural gas futures slid about 2% on Friday on forecasts for mild weather through early November that should keep heating demand low and allow utilities to inject more gas into storage than is usual for this time of year.

Front-month gas futures for November delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 4.3 cents, or 1.7%, to $2.479 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) at 8:24 a.m. EDT (1224 GMT). On Thursday, the contract closed at its highest since Oct. 11.

That put the front-month on track to gain about 9% this week after it fell about 22% over the prior three weeks.

Analysts projected utilities were on track to inject more gas into storage this week than normal for a second week in a row for the first time since October 2023.

Prior to last week, injections had been smaller than usual for 14 weeks in a row because many producers so far this year have reduced drilling activities after average spot monthly prices at the US Henry Hub benchmark in Louisiana fell to a 32-year low in March. Prices have remained relatively low since then.