US natural gas prices fall

The US natural gas market is seeing a drop in prices, which is associated with the predicted warming in the eastern states of the US and an increase in fuel stocks. Bloomberg reports this, analyzing the latest market data.

The expected increase in temperatures from late March to mid-April will lead to a decrease in gas consumption for heating in the residential and commercial sectors. This has become one of the main factors putting pressure on quotes and reducing demand in the short-term market.

An additional factor has been the increase in domestic gas reserves. Storage levels in US underground storage facilities already exceed the seasonal norm, which increases pressure on prices. According to the analytical company EBW Analytics Group, the gas surplus as of mid-March was 14 billion cubic feet, and by mid-April it may increase to 155 billion cubic feet.

On the Nymex exchange, May futures lost more than 4% and fell to $ 2.897 per million British thermal units. The growth in dry gas production in the United States by 5.4% compared to the same period last year creates additional supply, which supports a short-term decline in prices.

Despite this, analysts note an increase in the price gap between the October and January contracts, which was a consequence of geopolitical risks, in particular the conflict in the Middle East. This creates uncertainty for future gas supplies and keeps the market sensitive to global events.

In the northeastern states of the United States, gas demand in the winter period remains high, and it is partially compensated by imports of liquefied natural gas due to limited pipeline capacity. At the same time, current gas flows to LNG export terminals increased by 3.3% over the past week, which supports activity in the foreign trade sector and stabilizes the market as a whole.