After June brought higher cooling demand and a widening storage deficit, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said it is raising its projected average Henry Hub natural gas spot price to $3.21/MMBtu for 2021.

The latest price forecast, published in the July edition of the agency’s Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), represents a 14-cent increase over the previous month’s projections. The higher expected Henry Hub average comes as June brought a sequential 4.3 Bcf/d increase in domestic natural gas consumption, driven by power burns, according to the STEO report.

“In June, warm weather meant that cooling degree days were 9.6% higher than the 10-year average, prompting strong electric power sector demand in response to elevated household air conditioning use,” EIA...