US natgas futures fall as West Virginia pipe returns, Northeast spot drops to multi-year lows
UNG•US natural gas futures fell about 3% on Monday as the Mountaineer XPress pipeline returned to service, while Northeast spot prices dropped below $1 per mmBtu during a nor’easter. Storage was forecast to be 2.4% above the five-year average before Thursday’s EIA report.
1. Futures and spot prices
October natural gas futures fell 10.1 cents, or 3.2%, to $3.095 per mmBtu, while November futures were down about 3% to $3.13. Next-day prices fell below $1 per mmBtu in New York, New England and the Mid-Atlantic, reaching their lowest levels since 2020, 2022 and 2023, respectively.
2. Pipeline and storage
TC Energy’s Columbia Gas Transmission unit lifted the force majeure on the Mountaineer XPress pipeline in West Virginia on Sunday, after a mechanical issue affected about 1.4 to 1.8 billion cubic feet per day of flows. Analysts forecast that US gas storage stood 2.4% above the five-year average for the week ended September 25, down from 2.9% the prior week.
3. Demand outlook
LSEG forecast average Lower 48 gas demand, including exports, to rise from 103.1 billion cubic feet per day this week to 105.3 billion next week. It said average flows to the nine major US LNG export plants were 18.0 billion cubic feet per day so far in September, compared with 17.3 billion in August.
