NEW YORK: US natural gas futures edged up about 1% to a fresh one-year high on Tuesday on forecasts for colder weather and higher heating demand and on rising gas flows to US liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plants.

On its last day as the front-month, gas futures for December delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) rose 4 cents, or 1.2%, to $3.409 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) at 8:23 a.m. EST (1323 GMT), putting the contract on track for its highest close since November 2023 for a second day in a row.

Futures for January, which will soon be the front-month, were up about 6 cents to $3.50 per mmBtu.

Recent gains in gas prices have pushed the front-month into technically overbought territory and cut the oil-to-gas ratio to its lowest since January 2023, which could prompt energy firms to drill for more gas.

The oil-to-gas ratio, or the level at which oil trades compared with gas, fell to 20-to-1 on Tuesday.