US natural gas futures edged lower in after-hours trading on Tuesday as feedgas deliveries to LNG export terminals slowed to their weakest level in several weeks, offsetting support from warmer weather forecasts and stronger domestic demand.
The front-month Henry Hub contract and the continuous contract both fell by 0.28% to $3.17 per million British thermal units.
Estimated net LNG flows to US export terminals totaled 16.9 billion cubic feet per day on Tuesday, down 0.9 Bcf/d from Monday and 7.2% below levels seen a week earlier, according to Barchart, citing data from BNEF. Feedgas volumes fell to their lowest level since May 19.
The decline was largely driven by reduced deliveries to Sabine Pass, where feeder pipeline outages continued to constrain intake, energy consultancy Aegis said. NRG data showed LNG feedgas demand declined for a fourth consecutive day, slipping another 0.1 Bcf/d.
NRG added that LNG feedgas demand continues to ease as vessel arrivals slow, with only one LNG tanker currently headed to China, down from as many as five last week.
Meanwhile, startup challenges at the Golden Pass LNG export project continue to weigh on expectations for export demand.
Limiting losses, weather forecasts pointed to stronger cooling demand in the coming days. Above-normal temperatures are expected to boost air-conditioning use across the Midwest and western US through Jun. 11, Barchart said, citing Tuesday forecasts from Commodity Weather Group.
On the supply side, US dry gas production was estimated at 109.1 Bcf/d on Tuesday, up 1.9% from a year earlier.
Demand across the Lower 48 states reached 69.3 Bcf/d, up 4.8% year over year. Celsius Energy estimated power-sector gas consumption at 23.6 Bcf/d late Tuesday, down 0.3 Bcf/d from Monday but 3 Bcf/d higher than a year ago.
The firm also said average power burn during the seven-day period from May 21 to May 27 was 32.2 Bcf/d, up 3.2 Bcf/d from the same period in 2025, reflecting stronger electricity demand as warmer weather spreads across key population centers.