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US Natural Gas Update: Futures Fall as Permian Pipeline Adds to Ample Supply

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US natural gas futures fell in midday trade on Tuesday, despite bad weather on the US Gulf Coast, as robust production kept an already amply supplied market balanced.

Both the front-month Henry Hub contract and the continuous contract fell 0.95% to $2.909 per million British thermal units.

The decline came even as Tropical Storm Edouard was poised to strengthen significantly before reaching the northwestern Gulf Coast on Tuesday, potentially becoming a hurricane, the National Hurricane Center said.

Tropical storm warnings and a hurricane watch were in effect along the Texas and Louisiana coasts near the state line.

Edouard was expected to produce rainfall totals of 3 to 6 inches, with maximum totals of up to 9 inches in parts of the Upper Texas Coast and inland through east-central Texas. Louisiana could receive 2 to 4 inches of rain, ABC News reported.

A meaningful portion of the price decline was tied to Energy Transfer's (ET) Hugh Brinson Pipeline reaching full Phase I capacity on Tuesday, Gelber & Associates said.

"The new system adds 1.5 Bcf/d of Permian takeaway capacity, relieving constraints around Waha and allowing more West Texas supply to reach demand centers and downstream markets across Texas. That increase in deliverability is being treated as an immediate loosening of the broader supply picture," it said in a Tuesday note.

Trading Economics said average output in the Lower 48 states reached about 111.5 billion cubic feet per day in August, surpassing July's record of 110.7 Bcf/d and Canadian imports were flowing at 6.3 Bcf/d.

In the export market, LNG feedgas demand was pegged at 19.4 Bcf/d, although the market was increasingly looking beyond the current balance toward an expected slowdown in mid-September, Gelber & Associates said.

The US Energy Information Administration said on Tuesday that US LNG exports averaged 17.4 Bcf/d during the first half of 2026, up 23% from the same period a year earlier, driven by capacity expansions.

It forecasts LNG exports will average 17.3 Bcf/d in the second half of 2026 and rise further to 18.7 Bcf/d in the first half of 2027.

Price: $21.56, Change: $+0.05, Percent Change: +0.23%

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