U.S. natural gas futures gained 3% on Friday, thereby reaching a five-week high. This comes as the volume of gas flowing to U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants remains on track to hit a daily record high following forecasts for colder weather and higher heating demand in two weeks than what was previously expected.
Front-month gas futures for April delivery were up 6.9 cents, or 2.5%, to $2.834 per million British thermal units. This puts it on track to achieving its highest weekly close since January 27. The latest movements put front-month gas up 16% for the week, which would be its largest weekly gain since July last year.
Gas flows have been on the rise since Freeport LNG’s facility in Texas resumed activity in February after an eight-month hiatus stemming back to a fire in June 2022. According to data provided by Refinitiv, Freeport LNG’s export plant is set to pull in about 1.4 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) of gas on Friday; an increase of 1.2bcfd from Thursday.
When operating at full capacity, Freeport LNG is capable of processing 2.1 bcfd of gas into LNG for export.