New York, Jan 28, 2026, 17:16 EST — After-hours
- On expiry day, February Henry Hub natural gas futures swung sharply, but March contracts remained much lower
- UNG slipped during after-hours trading, while major U.S. gas producers and midstream companies ended the day up
- Attention shifts to Thursday’s U.S. storage figures and weather forecasts for early February
U.S. natural gas prices swung once more on Wednesday, with the February contract closing at $6.954 per million British thermal units (mmBtu). During the session, it hit a peak of $7.325 and dropped to a low of $5.770, according to CME settlement data.
The chop matters because the market is trying to price how fast supply normalises after a winter storm froze wells and snarled pipelines, and because expiry day can magnify moves when liquidity thins. U.S. gas production rose 2.5% on Wednesday to 102.1 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) as some shut-in volumes returned, after the storm pushed more than 15% of output offline over the weekend, BloombergNEF estimated.
Tuesday highlighted a clear disconnect between futures and physical supply. February futures dropped 11.5% to $6.019 per mmBtu, pressured by warmer weather forecasts. Yet, cash prices told a different story, with Northeast gas at Algonquin Citygate soaring to $173 and PJM West Hub power spiking to $1,014 per megawatt hour, according to Reuters.
Storm disruptions hit the export chain hard. U.S. Gulf Coast LNG exports fell to zero on Sunday, then bounced back Monday as ports began reopening, according to Vortexa. “Port closures reduced exports,” noted Samantha Santa Maria-Hartke, the company’s head of market analysis. Reuters
Shares tied to natural gas wrapped mixed after the bell. The United States Natural Gas Fund dropped 1.1%, but leading U.S. producer EQT climbed 2.8%, with Range Resources roughly matching that gain. Antero Resources barely moved. Midstream players Williams and Kinder Morgan saw small upticks, while LNG exporter Cheniere picked up about 1%.
UNG tracks daily natural gas price changes via futures contracts, meaning the shift from one expiring front-month contract to the next can cause the ETF to move more sharply than news about that day’s weather.
The setup can flip quickly. Should colder forecasts come back for early February or freeze-offs drag on, expect the market to squeeze again. On the other hand, if production picks up and spot constraints ease, that premium in the prompt month could collapse just as fast.
Traders have their sights set on storage next: the U.S. Energy Information Administration will release its weekly natural gas storage report at 10:30 a.m. Eastern on Thursday.
