US natgas prices fall on bigger-than-expected storage build, near-record output

U.S. natural gas futures fell about 3% on Thursday as near-record output allowed energy firms to inject more gas into storage than usual for a fourth week in a row even as homes and businesses cranked up their air conditioners to escape hotter-than-normal weather so far this summer.

Front-month gas futures for September delivery NGc1 on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 7.7 cents, or 2.7%, to settle at $2.727 per million British thermal units (mmBtu). On Wednesday, the contract closed at its highest price since July 24.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration said energy firms added 36 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas to storage during the week ended August 7.

That figure was bigger than the build analysts forecast in a Reuters poll and compares with an increase of during the same week last year and a five-year (2021-2025) average increase of for the period.