US natural gas futures extended earlier gains in after-hours trading Wednesday, rebounding from a three-month low on the final trading day for the August Nymex contract.
The September 2026 contract and the continuous contract each rose by 1.15% to $2.732 per million British thermal units. The August contract expired at $2.725/MMBtu, up 2.4%.
Natural gas prices had been under pressure over the past week after weather models shifted to show cooler conditions across the Midwest and East Coast in the near term, reducing expectations for power-sector demand from air conditioning, Barchart said.
The Commodity Weather Group said Wednesday that forecasts call for normal to below-normal temperatures across the central and eastern US through Aug. 7.
US lower-48 dry gas production remained strong at 112.1 Bcf/d on Wednesday, down 0.2 Bcf/d from the previous day but up 3.9% from a year earlier, according to estimates. Lower-48 state gas demand was 82.2 Bcf/d, down 1.8 Bcf/d from Tuesday and 7.2% below year-ago levels.
Estimated net gas flows to US LNG export terminals were 18.1 Bcf/d on Wednesday for the third consecutive day, up 2.0% from the previous week. Feedgas flows remained below full capacity due to maintenance at Freeport LNG, which is expected to continue through the end of August.
With supply and demand conditions largely stable, market focus is shifting to Thursday's US Energy Information Administration storage report. The report covering the week ended July 24 is expected to show a storage build of 34 Bcf to 38 Bcf, well above the five-year average increase of 26 Bcf.
If the build reaches 38 Bcf, the surplus compared with the five-year average would widen to 195 Bcf from 183 Bcf in the previous week.