US natural gas futures traded lower on October 21, 2026, with the November 2026 NYMEX contract down $0.10 at $2.86 according to NRG Energy's Daily Market Update. The same update's settlement table lists the November 2026 contract at $2.963, down $0.095, so the two figures differ within the source. The December 2026 crude oil contract was down $0.02 at $97.80, per the same report.
NRG describes the natural gas fundamentals as relatively balanced. Total demand was projected to rise 0.8 Bcf/d to 105.5 Bcf/d, although that level remained 2.7 Bcf/d below the previous week. Within that total, U.S. demand declined 0.9 Bcf/d to 77.5 Bcf/d, led by a 1.2 Bcf/d drop in power burn to 31.1 Bcf/d, while residential and commercial demand rose 0.5 Bcf/d to 16.6 Bcf/d.
LNG feedgas was the main bullish factor, rebounding 1.4 Bcf/d to 21.2 Bcf/d and sitting 0.8 Bcf/d above the prior week. However, one of Freeport LNG's three liquefaction trains went offline on October 20 in an apparent power-related outage. Gulf South Pipeline subsequently anticipated reduced deliveries to the facility, which NRG notes creates near-term downside risk to feedgas demand if the outage persists.
On the supply side, dry gas production slipped 0.4 Bcf/d to 110.6 Bcf/d, bringing total supply down 0.3 Bcf/d to 115.1 Bcf/d. Production nonetheless remained 1.1 Bcf/d above the previous week. NRG concludes that, despite seasonally softer domestic consumption, strong LNG demand and lower day-over-day production are helping to tighten balances and provide underlying support to near-term prices as the market moves toward stronger winter demand.
NYMEX settlement prices in the report showed the December 2026 contract at $3.301 (down $0.046), the 12-month strip at $2.996 (down $0.045), Calendar 2027 at $3.101 (down $0.038), and Calendar 2028 at $3.664 (down $0.020). NRG lists near-record gas production, healthy storage, a backwardated forward curve, and record-high LNG exports among the bearish and bullish factors it tracks, alongside data center load growth and geopolitical factors and global supply swings. In storage, the EIA reported a total of 3,567, up from 3,500 the prior week, a gain of 67.
The total was 143 below the level of a year earlier, a difference of -3.9%, and 45 above the five-year average of 3,522, a difference of 1.3%, according to NRG's summary of the report. In power markets, NRG reported next-day on-peak prices for October 19, 2026, as cleared in the day-ahead market: CAISO SP15 at $45.21, ERCOT North Hub at $43.50, ISO-NE Mass Hub at $46.00, MISO Indiana Hub at $105.09, NYISO Zone G at $50.26, and PJM West Hub at $80.82. Source: NRG Energy, Inc., Daily Market Update, October 21, 2026 (nrg.com).
Source: nrg.com