US natgas futures up 2% as daily production falls, Texas Waha prices stay negative

ReutersApr 7, 2026 6:42 PM

Waha Hub prices remain negative for record 42 days due to pipeline constraints
LSEG reports daily US gas output dropped to two-week low, mostly in Louisiana, Arkansas
Cheniere Energy maintenance reduces LNG feedgas flows, impacting export plant supply

By Scott DiSavino

NEW YORK, April 7 (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas futures climbed about 2% to a one-week high on Tuesday on a preliminary decline in daily output.

That small price increase came despite forecasts for milder weather and lower demand over the next two weeks than previously expected and a daily decline in the amount of gas flowing to U.S. liquefied natural gas export plants.

Front-month gas futures for May delivery NGc1 on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 5.9 cents, or 2.1%, to settle at $2.87 per million British thermal units, their highest close since March 31.

In the cash market, average prices at the Waha Hub NG-WAH-WTX-SNL in West Texas remained in negative territory for a record 42 days in a row as pipeline constraints continued to trap gas in the Permian region, the nation's biggest oil-producing shale basin.

Daily Waha prices first averaged below zero in 2019. They did so 17 times in 2019, six times in 2020, once in 2023, 49 times in 2024, 39 times in 2025, and a record 51 times so far this year.

SUPPLY AND DEMAND

Financial firm LSEG said average gas output in the U.S. Lower 48 states rose to 111.2 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) so far in April, up from 110.4 bcfd in March. That compares with a monthly record high of 110.7 bcfd in December 2025.

But on a daily basis, gas output was on track to drop by around 3.0 bcfd over the past two days to a preliminary two-week low of 108.9 bcfd on Tuesday due mostly to declines in Louisiana and Arkansas, according to LSEG data. Preliminary data, however, is often revised later in the day.

Analysts projected that mostly mild weather so far this spring has allowed energy firms to inject more gas into storage than usual, boosting inventories to a forecast 5% above normal levels during the week ended April 3, up from 3% above normal during the week ended March 27. EIA/GAS NGAS/POLL

Meteorologists forecast the weather will remain mostly warmer than normal through April 22.

LSEG projected average gas demand in the Lower 48 states, including exports, would fall from 107.0 bcfd this week to 101.3 bcfd next week. Those forecasts were lower than LSEG's outlook on Monday.

LNG EXPORTS

Average gas flows to the nine big U.S. LNG export plants rose to 19.1 bcfd so far in April, up from 18.6 bcfd in March. That compares with a monthly record high of 18.7 bcfd in February.

On a daily basis, however, feedgas to U.S. LNG export plants was on track to drop to a preliminary four-week low of 17.9 bcfd on Tuesday due primarily to a reduction in flows to U.S. LNG company Cheniere Energy's LNG.N 4.5-bcfd Sabine plant in Louisiana.

Cheniere told customers in a posting that it planned to conduct maintenance on April 7 and 8 that will reduce flows on the Creole Trail pipe, one of the pipes that supply gas to Sabine.

	Week ended Apr 3 Forecast	Week ended Mar 27 Actual	Year ago Apr 3	Five-year average (2021-2025) Apr 3
U.S. weekly natgas storage change (bcf):	+41	+36	+53	+13
U.S. total natgas in storage (bcf):	1,906	1,865	1,822	1,824
U.S. total storage versus 5-year average	+4.5%	+3.0%


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	2.83	2.81	3.43	3.62	3.79
Title Transfer Facility (TTF) TRNLTTFMc1	17.69	16.87	11.48	11.94	18.51
Japan-Korea Marker (JKM) JKMc1	19.97	19.97	12.23	12.24	18.12


LSEG U.S. Global Forecast System (GFS) Heating, Cooling and Total Degree Days
Two-Week Total Forecast	Current Day	Prior Day	Prior Year	10-Year Norm	30-Year Norm
U.S. GFS Heating Degree Days (HDD)	140	137	176	173	172
U.S. GFS Cooling Degree Days (CDD)	41	47	33	32	27
U.S. GFS Total Degree Days (TDD)	181	184	209	205	199

LSEG U.S. Weekly GFS Supply and Demand Forecasts
	Prior Week	Current Week	Next Week	This Week Last Year	Five-Year (2021-2025) Average for Month
U.S. Supply (bcfd)
U.S. Lower 48 Dry Production	110.9	111.4	111.5	105.9	99.9
U.S. Imports from Canada	6.9	6.7	6.7	N/A	7.5
U.S. LNG Imports	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Total U.S. Supply	117.9	118.1	118.2	N/A	107.4

U.S. Demand (bcfd)
U.S. Exports to Canada	3.4	2.6	2.6	N/A	2.5
U.S. Exports to Mexico	5.6	5.7	6.1	N/A	6.1
U.S. LNG Export Feedgas	18.9	18.3	17.9	16.5	13.1
U.S. Commercial	8.9	9.0	7.5	10.5	8.6
U.S. Residential	11.9	12.2	9.6	15.2	11.4
U.S. Power Plant	29.0	28.0	27.2	30.1	27.2
U.S. Industrial	23.2	23.5	22.8	24.0	23.3
U.S. Plant Fuel	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.4	5.3
U.S. Pipe Distribution	2.2	2.1	2.0	2.2	3.0
U.S. Vehicle Fuel	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.2
Total U.S. Consumption	80.8	80.5	74.7	87.5	79.0
Total U.S. Demand	108.8	107.0	101.3	N/A	100.7

N/A = Not Available

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	95	95	76	74	83
Jan-Jul	98	98	78	76	77
Oct-Sep	102	102	80	77	76

U.S. weekly power generation percent by fuel - EIA
	Week ended Apr 10	Week ended Apr 3	2025	2024	2023
Wind	15	18	11	11	10
Solar	9	8	6	5	4
Hydro	7	7	6	6	6
Other	1	1	1	1	2
Petroleum	0	0	0	0	0
Natural Gas	35	35	40	42	41
Coal	13	13	18	16	17
Nuclear	20	19	18	19	19

SNL U.S. Natural Gas Next-Day Prices ($ per mmBtu)
Hub	Current Day	Prior Day	This Month Last Year	Prior Year Average 2025	Five-Year Average (2021-2025)
Henry Hub NG-W-HH-SNL	3.04	2.86	3.41	3.52	3.72
Transco Z6 New York NG-CG-NY-SNL	2.56	2.00	2.81	3.53	3.56
PG&E Citygate NG-CG-PGE-SNL	1.26	1.41	2.63	3.42	5.47
Eastern Gas (old Dominion South) NG-PCN-APP-SNL	2.30	2.28	2.69	2.79	2.96
Chicago Citygate NG-CG-CH-SNL	2.58	2.38	3.03	3.23	3.60
Algonquin Citygate NG-CG-BS-SNL	3.03	2.02	3.15	6.08	5.04
SoCal Citygate NG-SCL-CGT-SNL	2.00	1.84	2.94	3.60	5.71
Waha Hub NG-WAH-WTX-SNL	-6.23	-5.57	1.38	1.15	2.88
AECO NG-ASH-ALB-SNL	0.99	1.00	1.60	1.13	2.13

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) U.S. Power Next-Day Prices ($ per megawatt-hour)
Hub	Current Day	Prior Day	This Month Last Year	Prior Year Average 2025	Five-Year Average (2021-2025)
New England E-NEPLMHP-IDX	57.87	35.50	42.26	77.61	61.79
PJM West E-PJWHRTP-IX	55.94	50.26	50.50	60.23	54.47
Mid-Columbia (Mid C) W-MIDCP-IDX	1.63	10.38	26.45	44.81	68.96
Palo Verde W-PVP-IDX	7.92	24.95	25.26	34.82	59.94
South Path-15 (SP-15) W-SP15-IDX	1.33	9.48	9.76	28.44	53.02

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