NEW YORK, Jan 27, 2026, 17:02 (EST) — After-hours
- February NYMEX natural gas slipped roughly 3.4% to $6.571 per MMBtu, with the contract set to expire Wednesday.
- After the bell, major U.S. gas producers dropped between 2% and 4%, with EQT leading the declines.
- Traders are eyeing contract expiry and Thursday’s storage data, while also monitoring if Gulf Coast LNG loadings hold steady following storm disruptions.
U.S. natural gas futures eased Tuesday following Monday’s jump, with traders cutting positions ahead of the February Henry Hub contract expiration. Slightly warmer weather forecasts also pressured the market. Shares of gas-focused producers slipped in after-hours trading.
The February NYMEX contract (NGG26) slipped to $6.571 per MMBtu, down 0.229. (An MMBtu is the standard measure of heat for natural gas pricing.) According to Barchart, the contract expires on Jan. 28.
The move follows a nearly 30% surge in front-month futures, which closed at $6.80—their highest level since December 2022—after an Arctic blast froze equipment and tightened supplies. Rystad Energy estimated peak natural gas production losses at roughly 20 billion cubic feet per day. An ExxonMobil spokesperson said, “We closely monitor severe weather conditions,” as companies grapple with outages. Reuters
Natural gas futures were already falling Tuesday morning, with front-month contracts down 3.9% to $6.535 by 8:49 a.m. in New York, Bloomberg reported. The drop reflects a warmer forecast for parts of the South and thin liquidity as contracts near expiry. BloombergNEF noted that about 50 billion cubic feet of gas production — around 15% of U.S. output — went offline from Saturday through Monday, with similar volumes still offline Tuesday.
Supply worries have cropped up along the coast. According to ship-tracking firm Vortexa, crude and LNG exports from U.S. Gulf Coast ports dropped to zero on Sunday before bouncing back once the ports reopened Monday. “Port closures … reduced exports,” said Samantha Santa Maria-Hartke, head of market analysis at Vortexa. She noted that Monday’s flows actually exceeded seasonal averages. Reuters
U.S. equities saw the largest declines among major gas producers. EQT dropped roughly 3.5% to $54.41 in after-hours trading. Antero Resources lost around 3.0%, and Range Resources slipped 2.5%. Cheniere Energy, an LNG exporter, dipped about 0.4%, while the U.S. Natural Gas Fund ETF fell close to 0.8%.
The rally stems from a blend of cold-weather demand and mechanical limits. Phil Flynn of Price Futures Group noted, “These moves are tied to heating needs and freeze-offs,” highlighting the large expected storage withdrawals as the storm squeezed the prompt market. MarketWatch
But the setup works both ways. Should temperatures ease and shut-in output come back swiftly, the front end could unravel just as quickly — particularly near expiration, when positions might be forced out abruptly and liquidity evaporates.
The next key markers are near. Traders eye Wednesday’s February contract expiry and Thursday’s U.S. Energy Information Administration storage report for the week ending Jan. 23. Daily weather updates and any fresh disruptions in Gulf Coast LNG loadings also draw attention.
