US natural gas futures slid 2% on Monday as forecasts kept calling for mild temperatures that will dent heating demand. On its first day as the front month, gas futures for February delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange were down 4.5 cents, or 2%, to settle at $2.186 per million British thermal units (mmBtu).

"Mild winter temperatures and weak near-term demand continue to dictate trading early this week. On top of already weak heating demand, exports have also pulled back in recent days," Daniel Myers, market analyst at Gelber & Associates in Houston, said in a report.

Data provider Refinitiv 414 heating degree days (HDDs) over the next two weeks in the lower 48 US states, well off the 30-year average of 461. Refinitiv predicted demand, including exports, would fall to an average of 111.5 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) this week from 112.4 bcfd in the prior week. Analysts said utilities likely pulled 161 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas from storage during the week ended Dec. 20. That compares with a decline of 61 bcf during the same week last year and a five-year (2014-18) average reduction of 101 bcf for the week of December 20.