Adds latest prices

By Scott DiSavino

April 22 (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas futures held at a five-month low on Tuesday on near record output so far this month and forecasts for mild weather that should keep both heating and cooling demand low through early May.

Gas futures NGc1 for May delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 0.9 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $3.007 per million British thermal units, their lowest close since November 19 for a second day in a row.

That kept the front-month in technically oversold territory for a fourth straight day for the first time since October 2024.

Analysts noted mild weather expected through early May should allow utilities to keep injecting lots of gas into storage.

U.S. gas stockpiles were currently around 7% below normal levels for this time of year after cold weather in January and February forced energy firms to pull large amounts of gas out of storage, including record amounts in January. EIA/GAS NGAS/POLL

SUPPLY AND DEMAND

Financial firm LSEG said average gas output in the Lower 48 U.S. states rose to 106.5 billion cubic feet per day in April from a monthly record of 106.2 bcfd in March.

On a daily basis, output was on track to fall by around 2.0 bcfd over the past four days to a preliminary one-week low of 105.0 bcfd on Tuesday, down from a record 108.0 bcfd on April 18. Traders noted preliminary data is often revised later in the day.

Part of the reason for that output reduction was maintenance on U.S. energy firm Kinder Morgan's KMI.N 2.7-bcfd Permian Highway gas pipe from the Permian basin in West Texas to the Texas Gulf Coast. Kinder Morgan has said it will be performing a turbine exchange at the Big Lake compressor station from May 13-26 that will reduce mainline capacity to around 2.2 bcfd.

Traders noted the Permian Highway reduction was also part of the reason why spot gas prices at the Waha Hub <NG-WAH-WTX-SNL slid to a three-week low of around 73 cents per mmBtu for Tuesday, down from 97 cents for Monday and an average of $1.64 over the prior seven days.

Meteorologists projected temperatures in the Lower 48 states would remain mostly warmer than normal through May 7.

LSEG forecast average gas demand in the Lower 48, including exports, will rise from 98.2 bcfd this week to 98.8 bcfd next week. Those forecasts were higher than LSEG's outlook on Monday.

The average amount of gas flowing to the eight big LNG export plants operating in the U.S. climbed from a monthly record of 15.8 bcfd in March to 16.1 bcfd so far in April on rising flows to Venture Global's VG.N 3.2-bcfd Plaquemines export plant under construction in Louisiana.

The U.S. became the world's biggest LNG supplier in 2023, surpassing Australia and Qatar, as surging global prices fed demand for more exports due in part to supply disruptions and sanctions linked to Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Gas was trading around $12 per mmBtu at both the Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF) TRNLTTFMc1 benchmark in Europe and the Japan Korea Marker (JKM) JKMc1 benchmark in Asia. NG/EU

(Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and David Gregorio)

((scott.disavino@thomsonreuters.com; +1 332 219 1922; Reuters Messaging: scott.disavino.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))

For gas data on the LSEG terminal type ENERGY in the search bar and then go to the GAS drop down and the NORTH AMERICA drop down.

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For graphics on Baker Hughes rig counts, see: http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/15/rigcount/index.html

For next-day SNL U.S. gas prices, see: 0#SNL-NG

For next-day SNL U.S. power prices, see: 0#SNL-PWR

For U.S. natgas price and storage polls, see: NGAS/POLL

For U.S. nuclear power outages, see: NUKE/

For U.S. Northwest hydro power report, see: NWRFC

For U.S./Canada natural gas rig count vs Henry Hub futures price, see: http://tmsnrt.rs/2eT9k44

For the U.S. natural gas speed guide, see: USGAS

For the U.S. power speed guide, see: USPOWER

To determine CFTC managed money net position add (NYMEX Henry Hub options and futures combined 3023651MNET) plus (ICE Henry Hub options and futures combined 3023391MNET divided by four) plus (NYMEX Henry Hub swaps options and futures combined 303565BMNET divided by four) plus (NYMEX Henry Hub penultimate gas swaps 303565CMNET divided by four)

NYMEX Henry Hub options and futures combined 0#3CFTC023651

NYMEX Henry Hub futures only 0#1CFTC023651

ICE Henry Hub options and futures combined 0#3CFTC023391

NYMEX Henry Hub swaps options and futures combined 0#3CFTC03565B

NYMEX Henry Hub Penultimate gas swaps 0#3CFTC03565C