Natural Gas Market Note | 04.28.2026
May futures trade quietly into expiration at $2.56 per MMBtu.
Today marked the final day of trading for the May 2026 NYMEX futures contract, which increased by less than a penny to roll off the board at $2.559 per MMBtu. This is the lowest NYMEX expiration since November 2024 and brings the 2026 year-to-date average down to $4.154 per MMBtu. The May 2025 contract expired at $3.17 per MMBtu, so this marks the third consecutive monthly settlement to come in lower than year-ago pricing.
June will roll to the front of the forward curve at a slight premium to the May expiration, but that contract has shown weakness in after-hours trading. With temperature forecasts for the next two weeks showing ongoing soft demand conditions, near-term fundamentals remain bearish. However, cooling season is approaching, and it is only a matter of time before we see substantial air conditioning load emerge. Net natural gas supply remains lower than year-ago levels, and power generation demand is running higher than in 2025. As summer demand ramps up, this tightness could start showing up in weekly injection numbers.
An archive of Daily Natural Gas Market Notes can be found here.