US natural gas futures rose toward $8/MMBtu, after EIA reported utilities added 54 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas to storage last week, in line with expectations but below a five-year average increase of 65 bcf. Still, US natural gas prices remain close to 4-week lows in anticipation of lower demand for next week, record-breaking domestic supplies and easing prices in Europe. Average gas output in the US Lower 48 states rose to 99.2 bcfd so far in September from a record 98.0 bcfd in August, according to data provider Refinitiv. Average US gas demand, including exports, is expected to fall to 93.3 bcfd next week from 97.4 bcfd this week, above Refinitiv's outlook on Wednesday. In addition, Freeport LNG announced that it would delay the restart of its Quintana export plant to November, leaving more gas in the US for utilities to inject into stockpiles for next winter. In the US West, California's grid operator urged consumers to conserve energy for the ninth day in a row on Thursday.
Historically, Natural gas reached an all time high of 15.78 in December of 2005. Natural gas - data, forecasts, historical chart - was last updated on September of 2022.
Natural gas is expected to trade at 9.46 USD/MMBtu by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate it to trade at 11.42 in 12 months time.