Adds latest prices

By Scott DiSavino

NEW YORK, Dec 16 (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas futures slid about 3% on Tuesday to a six-week low, on milder weather forecasts for the next two weeks, the shutdown of a liquefaction train at Freeport LNG, and ample amounts of gas in storage.

Front-month gas futures for January delivery NGc1 on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 12.6 cents, or 3.1%, to settle at $3.886 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), their lowest close since October 29.

That kept the front-month in technically oversold territory for a third day in a row for the first time since April.

Looking forward, gas futures for calendar 2026 NGCALYZ6 fell to a one-year low of $3.75 per mmBtu. That compares with an average of $3.60 so far in 2025, $2.41 in 2024, and $3.52 over the prior five years (2019-2023).

SUPPLY AND DEMAND

Financial firm LSEG said average gas output in the Lower 48 states eased to 109.5 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) so far in December, down from a monthly record high of 109.6 bcfd in November.

On a daily basis, output was on track to drop to a six-week low of 107.4 bcfd, down about 3.9 bcfd since hitting a daily record high of 111.3 bcfd on November 28. That decline was due in part to some frozen wells in Pennsylvania, Wyoming and West Virginia, according to data from LSEG and analysts' comments.

Record output has allowed energy companies to stockpile more gas than usual so far this year, leaving the amount of fuel in storage at about 1% above normal. EIA/GAS NGAS/POLL

Meteorologists forecast weather across the country would remain mostly warmer than normal through December 31, keeping the amount of gas needed to heat homes and businesses lower than usual for this time of year.

LSEG projected average gas demand in the Lower 48 states, including exports, would slide from 146.1 bcfd this week to 130.3 bcfd next week. The forecast for this week was higher than LSEG's outlook on Monday, while the forecast for next week was lower.

Average gas flows to the eight large U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plants rose to 18.6 bcfd so far this month, up from a monthly record high of 18.2 bcfd in November.

The U.S. became the world's biggest LNG exporter in 2023, surpassing Australia and Qatar, as surging global prices fed demand for more exports, due in part to supply disruptions and sanctions linked to Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

In other LNG export news, Freeport LNG said one of the three liquefaction trains at its LNG export plant in Texas shut on Tuesday.

Gas was trading near a 19-month low of around $9 per mmBtu at the Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF) TRNLTTFMc1 benchmark in Europe and a 20-month low of around $10 at the Japan-Korea Marker (JKM) JKMc1 in Asia. NG/EU

Global prices have declined in recent weeks with the slow start of the winter heating season and hopes peace talks over Ukraine could result in the lifting of sanctions against Moscow. That could allow Russia, the world's second-biggest gas producer behind the U.S., to export more fuel in the future.

(Reporting by Scott DiSavino
Editing by Nick Zieminski and David Gregorio)

((scott.disavino@thomsonreuters.com; +1 332 219 1922; Reuters Messaging: scott.disavino.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net/))