U.S. natgas futures rise on short covering before storage report
By Sarah Qureshi and Anushree Mukherjee
March 26 (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas futures rose on Thursday, rebounding from a one-month low reached in the previous session, while market participants awaited the weekly inventory report.
Front-month gas futures for April delivery NGc1 on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 2.6 cents, or 0.9%, to $2.98 per million British thermal units. The contract hit its lowest level since February 27 on Wednesday.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration is scheduled to release its weekly export sales at 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT). U.S. energy firms likely pulled 44 billion cubic feet of natural gas from storage last week, according to the average estimate in a Reuters poll released on Wednesday. EIA/GAS
"We're getting a little bit of a boost because oil prices are back up. So, we're getting the hydrocarbon stepsister support ahead of the report," said Phil Flynn, senior analyst for Price Futures Group.
Oil prices rose more than 4% as prospects of a prolonged conflict in the Middle East stoked concerns over further supply disruptions. O/R
U.S. President Donald Trump warned Iran to "get serious" about a deal to end nearly four weeks of air strikes, after its foreign minister said Tehran was reviewing the U.S. proposal but that there were no talks on winding down the war.
Elsewhere, gas was trading near $17 per mmBtu at the Dutch Title Transfer Facility TRNLTTFMc1 benchmark in Europe and $20 at the Japan-Korea Marker JKMc1 benchmark in Asia. NG/EU
| Week ended Mar 20 Forecast | Week ended Mar 13 Actual | Year ago Mar 20 | Five-year average (2021-2025) Mar 20 |
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U.S. weekly natgas storage change (bcf): | -44 | +35 | +33 | -21 |
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U.S. total natgas in storage (bcf): | 1,839 | 1,883 | 1,739 | 1,815 |
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U.S. total storage versus 5-year average | +1.3% | +2.6% |
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Global Gas Benchmark Futures ($ per mmBtu) | Current Day | Prior Day | This Month Last Year | Prior Year Average 2025 | Five-Year Average (2021-2025) |
Henry Hub NGc1 | 2.95 | 2.89 | 4.14 | 3.62 | 3.79 |
Title Transfer Facility (TTF) TRNLTTFMc1 | 34.07 | 17.24 | 13.21 | 11.94 | 18.51 |
Japan-Korea Marker (JKM) JKMc1 | 19.99 | 20.53 | 13.50 | 12.24 | 18.12 |
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LSEG U.S. Global Forecast System (GFS) Heating, Cooling and Total Degree Days |
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Two-Week Total Forecast | Current Day | Prior Day | Prior Year | 10-Year Norm | 30-Year Norm |
U.S. GFS Heating Degree Days (HDD) | 169 | 188 | 193 | 232 | 243 |
U.S. GFS Cooling Degree Days (CDD) | 40 | 38 | 15 | 15 | 10 |
U.S. GFS Total Degree Days (TDD) | 209 | 226 | 208 | 247 | 253 |
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LSEG U.S. Weekly GFS Supply and Demand Forecasts |
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| Prior Week | Current Week | Next Week | This Week Last Year | Five-Year (2021-2025) Average for Month |
U.S. Supply (bcfd) |
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U.S. Lower 48 Dry Production | 109.6 | 109.2 | 109.2 | 106.8 | 99.9 |
U.S. Imports from Canada | 7.6 | 7.3 | 7.8 | N/A | 8.0 |
U.S. LNG Imports | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 |
Total U.S. Supply | 117.2 | 116.5 | 117.0 | N/A | 108.0 |
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U.S. Demand (bcfd) |
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U.S. Exports to Canada | 3.4 | 3.9 | 3.9 | N/A | 3.4 |
U.S. Exports to Mexico | 6.6 | 6.8 | 6.8 | N/A | 5.8 |
U.S. LNG Export Feedgas | 18.5 | 18.8 | 19.0 | 16.1 | 13.2 |
U.S. Commercial | 12.9 | 9.0 | 9.3 | 9.8 | 12.1 |
U.S. Residential | 19.3 | 11.9 | 12.7 | 13.9 | 18.3 |
U.S. Power Plant | 29.5 | 29.6 | 8.2 | 29.6 | 31.8 |
U.S. Industrial | 24.6 | 23.1 | 23.2 | 23.6 | 24.5 |
U.S. Plant Fuel | 5.4 | 5.4 | 5.4 | 5.4 | 5.4 |
U.S. Pipe Distribution | 2.5 | 2.1 | 2.2 | 2.5 | 4.0 |
U.S. Vehicle Fuel | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 |
Total U.S. Consumption | 94.5 | 81.3 | 81.0 | 84.9 | 96.3 |
Total U.S. Demand | 122.9 | 110.9 | 110.7 | N/A | 118.7 |
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N/A = Not Available |
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U.S. Northwest River Forecast Center (NWRFC) at The Dalles Dam (fiscal year ending September 30) | 2026 Current Day % of Normal Forecast | 2026 Prior Day % of Normal Forecast | 2025 % of Normal Actual | 2024 % of Normal Actual | 2023 % of Normal Actual |
Apr-Sep | 101 | 100 | 76 | 74 | 83 |
Jan-Jul | 104 | 103 | 78 | 76 | 77 |
Oct-Sep | 106 | 106 | 80 | 77 | 76 |
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U.S. weekly power generation percent by fuel - EIA |
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| Week ended Mar 27 | Week ended Mar 20 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 |
Wind | 15 | 15 | 11 | 11 | 10 |
Solar | 9 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 4 |
Hydro | 8 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
Other | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Petroleum | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Natural Gas | 34 | 35 | 40 | 42 | 41 |
Coal | 14 | 13 | 18 | 16 | 17 |
Nuclear | 19 | 18 | 18 | 19 | 19 |
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SNL U.S. Natural Gas Next-Day Prices ($ per mmBtu) |
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Hub | Current Day | Prior Day | This Month Last Year | Prior Year Average 2025 | Five-Year Average (2021-2025) |
Henry Hub NG-W-HH-SNL | 2.94 | 2.90 | 4.13 | 3.52 | 3.72 |
Transco Z6 New York NG-CG-NY-SNL | 2.02 | 2.25 | 3.40 | 3.53 | 3.56 |
PG&E Citygate NG-CG-PGE-SNL | 1.61 | 1.60 | 3.52 | 3.42 | 5.47 |
Eastern Gas (old Dominion South) NG-PCN-APP-SNL | 2.06 | 2.23 | 3.29 | 2.79 | 2.96 |
Chicago Citygate NG-CG-CH-SNL | 2.44 | 2.47 | 3.53 | 3.23 | 3.60 |
Algonquin Citygate NG-CG-BS-SNL | 2.29 | 2.75 | 3.74 | 6.08 | 5.04 |
SoCal Citygate NG-SCL-CGT-SNL | 2.19 | 2.19 | 3.53 | 3.60 | 5.71 |
Waha Hub NG-WAH-WTX-SNL | -3.06 | -1.94 | 0.78 | 1.15 | 2.88 |
AECO NG-ASH-ALB-SNL | 1.8 | 1.21 | 1.47 | 1.13 | 2.13 |
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Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) U.S. Power Next-Day Prices ($ per megawatt-hour) |
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Hub | Current Day | Prior Day | This Month Last Year | Prior Year Average 2025 | Five-Year Average (2021-2025) |
New England E-NEPLMHP-IDX | 34.44 | 40.19 | 50.19 | 77.61 | 61.79 |
PJM West E-PJWHRTP-IX | 42.45 | 50.55 | 48.35 | 60.23 | 54.47 |
Mid-Columbia (Mid C) W-MIDCP-IDX | 14.44 | 4.94 | 34.51 | 44.81 | 68.96 |
Palo Verde W-PVP-IDX | 21.71 | 24.71 | 23.31 | 34.82 | 59.94 |
South Path-15 (SP-15) W-SP15-IDX | 12.12 | 10.09 | 16.63 | 28.44 | 53.02 |
