US natural gas futures fell about four per cent to a one-week low on Thursday on a bigger-than-expected build in stockpiles and expectations that energy firms will keep injecting more gas into storage than usual in coming weeks.
After rising for six days in a row, front-month gas futures for May delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 10.2 cents, or 3.7 per cent, to $2.62 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), putting the contract on track for its lowest close since April 15.
The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said energy firms added 103 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas into storage during the week ended April 17.
That was bigger than the 94-bcf build analysts forecast in a Reuters poll and compared with an increase of 77 bcf during the same week last year and a five-year (2021-2025) average increase of 64 bcf for the period.
Analysts had said they expected last week's build would be bigger than usual because mild weather kept heating demand low.
In the cash market, average prices at the Waha Hub in West Texas have remained in negative territory for a record 54 days in a row as pipeline constraints continued to trap gas in the Permian region, the nation's biggest oil-producing shale basin.
Daily Waha prices first averaged below zero in 2019.
They did so 17 times in 2019, six times in 2020, once in 2023, 49 times in 2024, 39 times in 2025, and a record 63 times so far this year.
Waha prices have averaged a negative $1.91 per mmBtu so far in 2026, compared with a positive $1.15 in 2025 and a positive $2.88 over the past five years (2021-2025).
Financial firm LSEG said average gas output in the US Lower 48 states has eased to 110.3 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) so far in April, down from 110.4 bcfd in March. That figure compares with a monthly record high of 110.7 bcfd in December 2025.
On a daily basis, output was on track to drop by around 3.8 bcfd over the past 17 days to a preliminary 11-week low of 108.3 bcfd on Thursday.
Preliminary data, however, is often revised later in the day.
Looking ahead, meteorologists forecast the weather will remain mostly near normal through May 8.
LSEG projected average gas demand in the Lower 48 states, including exports, would slide from 103.7 bcfd this week to 100.5 bcfd next week.
That forecast was similar to LSEG's outlook on Wednesday.
Average gas flows to the nine big US LNG export plants have risen to 18.9 bcfd so far in April, up from 18.6 bcfd in March. That reading compares with a monthly record high of 18.7 bcfd in February.
The first tanker departed QatarEnergy/ExxonMobil's 2.4-bcfd Golden Pass LNG export plant in service and under construction in Texas with the facility's inaugural cargo on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by Paul Simao and Louise Heavens)
