(Reuters) – U.S. natural gas futures soared by a record 89% over five days to a three-year high on Monday after an Arctic blast at the weekend froze oil and gas wells, cutting gas production to a two-year low on Sunday.
On Monday, front-month gas futures for February delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) rose 64.3 cents, or 12.2%, to $5.918 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), putting the contract on track for its highest close since December 2022.
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Financial firm LSEG said average gas output in the Lower 48 states dropped to 106.9 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) so far in January, down from a monthly record high of 109.7 bcfd in December.
On a daily basis, output was on track to rise to 95.5 bcfd on Monday from a two-year low of 92.6 bcfd on Sunday due mostly to freezing wells in Texas and Louisiana, according to LSEG data. That compares with a recent high of 110.0 bcfd on January 12 and an all-time daily high of 111.2 bcfd on December 21.
That means output fell about 17.4 bcfd from January 13-25. In past winters, freezing wells, known as freeze-offs in the energy industry, have slashed gas output by massive amounts, including the loss of around 17.2 bcfd from January 8-16 in 2024, cuts of 15.8 bcfd from December 20-24 in 2022, and a drop of 20.4 bcfd from February 8-17 in 2021, according to LSEG data.
Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by Kirsten Donovan
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