US natural gas futures edged lower on Tuesday, as markets balanced bearish weather forecasts with rising demand and LNG export feedgas.
The front-month Henry Hub contract and the continuous contract both rose 1.51% to $2.930 per million British thermal units.
Weather forecasts turned bearish, with northern parts of the country expected to see near- and below-normal temperatures from September 15 through September 21, according to the National Weather Service.
Meanwhile, after the holiday weekend, total US natural gas demand is expected to rise by 2.8 Bcf/d on Tuesday, led by a surge in power generation demand, according to NRG Energy.
On the supply side, dry gas output is expected to decline modestly by 0.1 Bcf/d, with withdrawals from storage also expected to increase during the week.
LNG export feedgas flows continued to inch higher, expected to hit 19.79 Bcf on Tuesday, significantly above the 30-day moving average of 18.45 Bcf/d, according to the Bloomberg LNG Feedgas Model.
This comes as major LNG export facilities in Texas return to service after scheduled maintenance in recent weeks, alongside rising demand from Europe and Asia.