US natural gas futures were up on Friday, amid increased flows to LNG feedgas facilities and bullish near-term weather forecasts.
The front-month Henry Hub contract, on the day of its expiry, rose 0.81% to $3.370 per million British thermal units. The benchmark was set to end the week up by 4.06%, according to data from TradingEconomics.
Prices were supported by a strong recovery in LNG feedgas flows throughout the past week, with flows expected at 19.13 billion cubic feet on Friday, compared to the 30-day moving average of 18.21 Bcf, as volumes across major facilities recover from spring maintenance.
Meanwhile, weather conditions continued to turn bullish, with over two-thirds of the country expected to see above-normal temperatures from July 03 to July 09, according to the National Weather Service, which is expected to increase cooling-related power demand.
Natural gas power burn demand is expected to rise to the mid-40s Bcf/d starting next week, driven by heat, according to NRG Energy.
On the bearish side, the US Energy Information Administration's Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report showed a net injection of 76 Bcf for the week ended June 19, up from the prior week's 73 Bcf and above market expectations for a 67 Bcf build, according to data compiled by Investing.com.
However, the injection was below the 96 Bcf added during the same week a year earlier. They were also broadly in-line with the five-year average for this period, at 75 Bcf.
The current inventory condition is being seen as a stable build-up, according to Pinebrook Energy Advisors, even though "the pace of storage growth continues to consistently lag 2025." They further expect next week's figures to "show a sizable injection" ahead of warm weather, which is likely to weigh on storage.