UPDATE 2-U.S. natgas falls 5% on delay of Freeport LNG plant restart

(Updates prices to settlemet) Aug 23 (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas futures fell more than 5% on news of a further delay in the resumption of initial operations at the Freeport LNG export plant in Texas. Freeport LNG said it expects partial recovery to begin in early to mid-November, not October as originally estimated. The company said it expects to ramp up to sustain 2 billion cubic feet per day production by the end of November. Front-month gas futures for September shed 48.7 cents, or 5%, to settle at $9.193 per million British thermal units. The session low was $9.050. Earlier, U.S. gas prices shot above $10 for the first time in about 14 years due to a surge in prices in Europe, where tight supplies persist. Prices reversed course on the Freeport news, and there was also some technical selling, said Phil Flynn, analyst at Price Futures Group. However, the Freeport timeline has "only been pushed back a couple of weeks from what they originally anticipated, so the market may rebound here a little bit," Flynn added. Global gas prices remained strong, with contracts at $77 per mmBtu in Europe and $56 in Asia. This should boost demand for relatively cheaper U.S. LNG shipments which have been limited by shutdown of the Freeport plant, which supplies about 20% of U.S. LNG exports. Further pressuring the market, Russian state energy giant Gazprom said on Friday the country will halt natural gas supplies to Europe for three days at the end of the month via its main pipeline into the region. The average amount of gas flowing to U.S. LNG export plants held at 10.9 bcfd so far in August, the same as July. That compares with a monthly record of 12.9 bcfd in March. The seven big U.S. export plants can turn about 13.8 bcfd of gas into LNG. Week ended Week ended Year ago Five-year Aug 19 Aug 12 Aug 19 average (Forecast) (Actual) Aug 19 U.S. weekly natgas storage change (bcf): +59 +18 +32 +46 U.S. total natgas in storage (bcf): 2,578 2,519 2,847 2,932 U.S. total storage versus 5-year average -12.1% -12.7% Global Gas Benchmark Futures ($ per mmBtu) Current Day Prior Day This Month Prior Year Five Year Last Year Average Average 2021 (2017-2021) Henry Hub 9.82 9.17 4.03 3.73 2.89 Title Transfer Facility (TTF) 76.94 83.82 15.43 16.04 7.49 Japan Korea Marker (JKM) 57.82 57.00 16.36 18.00 8.95 Refinitiv Heating (HDD), Cooling (CDD) and Total (TDD) Degree Days Two-Week Total Forecast Current Day Prior Day Prior Year 10-Year 30-Year Norm Norm U.S. GFS HDDs 5 4 4 7 10 U.S. GFS CDDs 192 194 190 178 165 U.S. GFS TDDs 197 198 194 185 175 Refinitiv U.S. Weekly GFS Supply and Demand Forecasts Prior Week Current Week Next Week This Week Five-Year Last Year Average For Month U.S. Supply (bcfd) U.S. Lower 48 Dry Production 96.8 96.9 97.6 94.0 86.5 U.S. Imports from Canada 7.1 7.6 7.7 8.3 8.0 U.S. LNG Imports 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 Total U.S. Supply 103.8 104.5 105.3 102.3 94.6 U.S. Demand (bcfd) U.S. Exports to Canada 2.5 2.5 2.4 2.3 2.5 U.S. Exports to Mexico 5.8 5.6 5.7 6.3 5.4 U.S. LNG Exports 10.9 11.0 10.7 10.6 4.4 U.S. Commercial 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 U.S. Residential 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.6 3.4 U.S. Power Plant 40.1 40.0 41.1 41.2 38.8 U.S. Industrial 21.3 21.3 21.3 21.0 21.2 U.S. Plant Fuel 4.8 4.8 4.8 4.8 4.8 U.S. Pipe Distribution 2.0 2.0 2.1 2.0 2.1 U.S. Vehicle Fuel 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 Total U.S. Consumption 76.3 76.2 77.7 77.2 74.9 Total U.S. Demand 95.5 95.2 96.4 96.4 87.2 U.S. weekly power generation percent by fuel - EIA Week ended Week ended Week ended Week ended Week ended Aug 26 Aug 19 Aug 12 Aug 5 Jul 29 Wind 6 6 6 8 7 Solar 3 3 3 3 3 Hydro 6 6 5 5 5 Other 2 2 2 2 2 Petroleum 0 0 0 0 0 Natural Gas 43 42 45 42 42 Coal 22 22 22 21 22 Nuclear 19 19 17 17 17 SNL U.S. Natural Gas Next-Day Prices ($ per mmBtu) Hub Current Day Prior Day Henry Hub 9.85 9.14 Transco Z6 New York 8.86 8.09 PG&E Citygate 10.62 10.04 Dominion South 8.62 8.01 Chicago Citygate 8.90 8.45 Algonquin Citygate 9.10 8.40 SoCal Citygate 10.04 9.08 Waha Hub 8.60 7.78 AECO 0.02 0.74 SNL U.S. Power Next-Day Prices ($ per megawatt-hour) Hub Current Day Prior Day New England 107.25 99.50 PJM West 119.75 100.00 Ercot North 89.75 85.00 Mid C 92.50 75.00 Palo Verde 101.50 80.75 SP-15 103.25 82.25 (Reporting by Bharat Govind Gautam and Kavya Guduru in Bengaluru; Editing by Paul Simao and David Gregorio)