Natural gas futures plunged Thursday amid intensifying imbalance concerns and escalating worries about looming storage surpluses as summer cooling needs dwindle. 

EIA Storage Sept 11

The losses occurred as Hurricane Sally’s destruction imposes uncertainty, and the full impacts of other demand drivers this fall also remain unclear.

The October Nymex contract dropped 22.5 cents day/day and settled Thursday at $2.042/MMBtu. It reached an intraday low of $2.003. November fell 8.7 cents to $2.577.

The prompt month has not dipped below $2.000 since early August, with markets rallying since then as economies reopened and energy demand showed signs of momentum. However, Robert Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho Securities USA LLC, said supply/demand fundamentals did not support the revival...