Henry Hub natural gas futures opened at $2.68 per MMBtu and closed at $2.69 per MMBtu on August 5, 2026, a gain of approximately 0.48% on the session, Markets Insider. The prior session's CME Globex quote for the NGU26 contract showed a last price of 2.685, up +0.003 (+0.11%), on thin volume of 516 lots as of 04 Aug 2026 07:05 PM CT, CME Group. Two days earlier, on August 2, the volume page had printed a last of 2.751 on 2,535 lots, CME Group.

The FRED Henry Hub spot price series (DHHNGSP) most recently reported $2.63 per MMBtu as of July 27, 2026, with a release date of August 5, 2026, FRED. The EIA's official daily NYMEX futures settlement prices, published at 2:30 p.m. ET, carry the same August 5 release date and cover the continuous series from 1997 through 2026, EIA. The EIA's Henry Hub spot price page, last released July 29, was also scheduled for its next update on August 5, EIA.

Storage data reinforces the bearish near-term picture. According to the EIA Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report published July 30, working gas in underground storage stood at 3,084 Bcf as of the Friday July 24 measurement week, a net injection of 28 Bcf, EIA. That build sits comfortably within seasonal norms for late July, leaving inventories well-supplied heading into the back half of the injection season.

The front month's struggles are not new. In mid-July, NYMEX August-delivery natural gas fell 6.6 cents, or 2.3%, to settle at $2.888 per MMBtu, a two-month low, amid rising output and ample supply, Reuters. Since that mid-July settlement, the prompt month has drifted roughly another 20 cents lower, tracking the spot index toward the $2.60s.

The curve, however, tells a different story. The EIA's Weekly Natural Gas Update from January 22 reported that the 12-month strip averaging February 2026 through January 2027 futures contracts climbed 65 cents to $3.970/MMBtu, EIA. That strip level implies roughly a $1.28 premium to the August 5 spot-area print of $2.69, a contango structure that reflects expectations of tightening physical balances rather than current tightness.

Underpinning that forward curve, the EIA Short-Term Energy Outlook projects U.S. natural gas consumption in the electric power sector will increase in both 2026 and 2027, reaching a record in 2027, EIA. Gas-fired power demand has been the primary swing factor in U.S. consumption growth, driven by load from data centers, electrification, and the retirement of coal capacity.

Cross-commodity flows added pressure on the energy complex on August 4. Brent crude futures fell $4.41, or 5.3%, to settle at $79.36 per barrel after reports of progress in U.S.-Iran nuclear talks, Reuters. While crude and natural gas trade on largely independent fundamentals in the U.S. market, the risk-off tone in broader energy spilled into weakness across the complex at the start of the week.

The broader context here is a market split between comfortable present supply and a forward curve pricing tighter balances. Storage at 3,084 Bcf provides a meaningful buffer through the remainder of the withdrawal season, and the spot price near $2.63 is consistent with that looseness. Yet the 12-month strip near $3.97 signals that traders expect demand growth, particularly from the power sector, to erode the surplus. The EIA's STEO forecast of record power-burn gas consumption in 2027 is the structural thesis behind that curve shape.

For market participants, the key tension is whether production growth can keep pace with the demand trajectory the forward curve is pricing. U.S. dry gas production has been the bearish counterargument all year, and the mid-July selloff to two-month lows was explicitly attributed to rising output. If LNG export capacity additions and power-sector demand accelerate faster than supply responds, the contango could steepen. If production growth holds, the strip's premium to spot compresses.

The thin CME volume on August 4, just 516 lots on the NGU26 contract, is worth noting as a liquidity signal rather than a directional one. Holiday-thinned summer sessions can produce misleading prints. The August 2 session, with 2,535 lots, gives a more representative picture of current participation levels.

Neither the EIA's official NYMEX settlement for August 5 nor the updated Henry Hub spot price had been published at the time of the CME after-hours quote. The EIA's 2:30 p.m. ET release on August 5 will provide the benchmark settlement against which the Markets Insider close of $2.69 can be reconciled.