U.S. natural gas futures experienced a decline of approximately 3% on Thursday due to predictions of cooler weather and reduced demand expected for the following week. These factors are projected to keep the need for utilities to extract gas from storage at a minimal level in the upcoming weeks.

The front-month gas futures for April delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange dropped by 2.5% to $4.141 per million British thermal units. This drop followed a recent peak since March 11.

It is anticipated that the federal storage report will reveal a lower-than-usual gas withdrawal from storage by utilities during the previous week's mild weather conditions. Analysts estimated a withdrawal of about 3 billion cubic feet of gas for the week ending on March 14, which is significantly lower than the previous year's increase of 5 billion cubic feet during the same week.

Although gas stockpiles are currently 11% below normal levels due to extreme cold weather in January and February, recent data indicates an increase in gas production. However, daily output is expected to decrease due to maintenance work on pipelines in Texas and other states.

Weather forecasts suggest that temperatures in the Lower 48 states will remain close to normal until April 4. The average gas demand in the Lower 48, including exports, is expected to rise from 106.8 billion cubic feet per day this week to 107.9 billion cubic feet per day next week, slightly lower than previous expectations.

The U.S. has emerged as the world's largest LNG supplier in 2023, surpassing Australia and Qatar. This growth is attributed to soaring global prices, increased demand for exports, and disruptions in supply chain linked to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.