US natural gas prices eased to about $2.94 per MMBtu on Thursday after two straight sessions of gains, as traders awaited the latest weekly storage data. Mild weather and soft demand have enabled energy companies to inject more gas into storage, and analysts now expect inventories for the week ended October 30 to stand 1.4% above the seasonal norm, up from 1.0% the previous week.
Forecasts indicate above-average temperatures across much of the country through November 19, a pattern that is likely to keep heating demand muted in the near term. At the same time, LNG export activity has softened: average gas flows to the nine major US LNG export terminals have declined to 18.1 bcfd so far in November, from 18.4 bcfd in October.
Still, falling domestic output has helped cap price declines. Gas production in the Lower 48 has averaged 111.2 bcfd so far this month, down from 113.4 bcfd in October.
