Natural Gas Market Note | 05.18.2026
Natural gas futures continue higher amid May heat wave.
Natural gas pushed higher across the curve on Monday, with the prompt-month contract moving back above $3.00 per MMBtu for the first time in nearly two months. The June 2026 NYMEX contract added nearly 6.5 cents to end the day at $3.024 per MMBtu, marking the highest daily settlement for June gas since March 30. Unlike the price action late last week, gains were not confined to the front of the curve, with Winter 2026-27 also adding 4 cents on the day.
Despite today’s gains, deliveries beyond the balance of summer remain lower than week-ago and month-ago levels. Most of the recent bullish sentiment has been based on near-term price drivers, with temperature patterns shifting quickly from lingering heating demand in the North to a widespread warmer-than-normal pattern driving early cooling needs.
Power generation demand for natural gas was estimated near 40 Bcf per day today, by far the highest level so far in the early stages of the cooling season. For reference, that threshold wasn’t approached last summer until the first week of June. While this pales in comparison to mid-summer demand spikes north of 50 Bcf per day, the early timing of this bump in demand has the market’s attention. With unseasonable heat forecast to persist across most of the country into at least early June, the market continues to assess the upside risk if heat extends deeper into the peak summer season.
An archive of Daily Natural Gas Market Notes can be found here.