Overview
- Front-month contracts have jumped roughly 70% to 75% this week, putting prices on track for the biggest weekly gain since 1990 and the highest level since 2022.
- Forecasts show the storm affecting more than 150 million people with blizzards, freezing rain, and subzero wind chills across large swaths of the country.
- Analysts expect very large storage withdrawals as natural gas supplies 47% of U.S. home heating and roughly 40% of electricity generation.
- Extreme cold could disrupt production and pipeline flows through freeze-offs in Texas, Louisiana, and Appalachia, with the price spike concentrated in near-term contracts.
- Structural pressures include an expected 37% increase in LNG exports this year and added power demand from data centers, while gas-linked stocks and ETFs have rallied.