Goldman Sachs Lowers U.S. Natural Gas Forecast

1117 ET – Natural gas prices in the US are down about 50% year-to-date, and Goldman Sachs says it’s lowering its summer price forecasts, again. “Following a softer-than-expected start of summer, driven by weaker-than-expected heating demand (Apr) and strong supply (May), we have lowered our balance of Sum23 US gas forecasts to $2.85 from $3.30 previously, vs forwards at $2.38,” it says in a note. “We maintain our view that the US gas market will be able to prevent a breach of storage capacity without production shut-ins via higher power demand for gas from price-driven coal-to-gas switching and moderate cuts to drilling and completion activity. However, we acknowledge that risks are skewed towards a softer balance this year.” (dan.molinski@wsj.com)