US gas futures fall after climbing to 14-year high

On August 17, natural gas prices fell about 1% from a 14-year high on forecasts for cooler weather and weaker-than-expected demand for air-conditioning systems over the next two weeks, reported from Reuters.

Prices eased slightly despite reduced daily production, hotter-than-usual weather on the West Coast and Texas, and despite global gas prices rising to record levels.

In addition, the ongoing shutdown of the Freeport LNG terminal is also putting downward pressure on the natural gas market.

Near-term futures for natural gas in the US on August 17 ended trading down 8.5 cents, or 0.9%, to $9.244 per million Btu. On August 16, the quotes ended trading at the highest level since August 2008.

Over the past year, quotes for the nearest contracts for natural gas jumped by about 145%. In Europe and Asia, gas was traded at $69 and $57, respectively.

Later on August 18, the US Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration (EIA) weekly report on gas reserves will be released. It is expected that stocks in underground storage facilities (UGS) in the United States grew weaker than usual during the reporting week.

Analysts polled by Reuters believe that gas reserves in the US increased by 34 billion cubic feet in the week of August 6-12. A year ago, they increased by 46 bcf, and the 5-year average for the reporting period is +47 bcf.

If the analysts' estimate is correct, the total gas reserves in the US UGS facilities amounted to 2.535 trillion cubic feet. This is 12.2% lower than the 5-year average.

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