The October 2026 NYMEX futures contract posted its second straight day of losses on Wednesday, losing nearly 10 cents to finish at $2.82 per MMBtu. This marks the steepest single-day drop for the prompt-month contract in more than a month and could indicate a shift toward more bearish near-term market sentiment. Winter 2026-27 fell by a similar margin, pushing to new multi-year lows near $3.30 per MMBtu, while the rest of the curve saw more modest declines.
Temperature patterns are set to normalize considerably from here. Beyond today, population-weighted cooling degree days fall off and are poised to trend lower into the shoulder season.
While natural gas demand from the power generation sector has remained elevated in recent weeks, volumes should ease through the balance of September. On the other side of the coin, LNG feedgas has continued to edge higher, with estimated volumes approaching 20 Bcf per day. With Golden Pass and Corpus Christi Stage 3 now operational, the stage is set for new all-time highs in LNG export demand this fall.
An archive of Daily Natural Gas Market Notes can be found here.