-- US natural gas futures rose in midday trading on Tuesday as the Middle East ceasefire deadline approaches, even as the conditions for the US-Iran peace talks are yet to be settled.
The front-month Henry Hub contract and the continuous benchmark both gained 0.15% to $2.69 per million British thermal units.
US-Iran ceasefire talks are increasingly uncertain as a two-week truce nears expiration. Iran says it hasn't decided whether to participate, while US Vice President J D Vance reportedly stayed in Washington instead of traveling to lead talks in Pakistan.
Both sides have warned they are ready to resume fighting if no deal is reached.
Earlier in the day, prices remained confined to a tight range below the opening price amid ample supply, before prices lifted amid doubts about the proposed talks in Islamabad.
The Wall Street Journal said Bank of America trimmed its Henry Hub price forecast for the remainder of the year by $0.20 to $3.40/MMBtu on plentiful supplies, adding that analysts there said while supply can tighten during extreme cold events, ample capacity during summer months generally reduces the risk of sharp price spikes, even during heat waves.
The US Energy Information Administration said Tuesday that the fundamentals showed a relatively comfortable supply backdrop heading into the April-October injection season.
Working gas in storage across the Lower 48 states is estimated at about 1,890 billion cubic feet at the start of the refill period. That is roughly 3% above both last year's level and the five-year average, indicating a modest cushion as injections begin.
Dry gas production remained slightly below record highs, though output eased slightly late in the week, offering limited support to prices, according to NRG Energy.
It said in line with overall softness in the market, regional cash prices in parts of Texas and the western US turned extremely weak at times, even printing negative levels in some areas, reflecting localized oversupply and strong renewable generation amid mild weather conditions.
LNG exports provided a key counterbalance to weak domestic consumption, with feedgas flows holding near record levels of around 18.9 billion cubic feet per day. That steady export demand helped prevent a sharper price decline, NRG said.