By Scott DiSavino

Feb 21 (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas futures edged up about 1% on Friday as extreme cold over the past couple of weeks cut output by freezing wells and as gas flows to liquefied natural gas $(LNG)$ export plants hit record highs.

In addition, traders noted that the cold weather forced utilities to pull huge amounts of gas out of storage, cutting stockpiles down to about 11% below the five-year (2020-2024) normal for this time of year EIA/GAS {NGAS/POLL]

Front-month gas futures NGc1 for March delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) were up 2.4 cents, or 0.6%, to $4.176 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) at 8:34 a.m. EST (1334 GMT).

That kept the contract in technically overbought territory for a fourth day in a row for the first time since October 2024. The front-month closed at a 25-month high of $4.28 per mmBtu on February 19.

Total gas futures volume NG-TOT traded on the NYMEX, meanwhile, jumped to 1.194 million contracts on February 19, the most since hitting an all-time high of 1.603 million in November 2018 and the third highest on record.

For the week, the contract was up about 13%, rising for a third week in a row for the first time since November and gaining around 38% during that time.

SUPPLY AND DEMAND

Financial company LSEG said average gas output in the Lower 48 U.S. states has risen to 104.6 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) so far in February from 102.7 bcfd in January, when freezing oil and gas wells and pipes, known as freeze-offs, cut production. That compares with a monthly record of 104.6 bcfd in December 2023.

But with the return of extreme cold that is again freezing wells in some parts of the country, daily output was on track to drop by around 6.7 bcfd since hitting a record high of 106.7 bcfd on February 6 to a preliminary four-week low of 100.0 bcfd on Friday. Analysts noted preliminary data is often revised later in the day.

Meteorologists projected weather in the Lower 48 states would remain mostly near normal through March 8.

With milder weather coming, LSEG forecast average gas demand in the Lower 48 states, including exports, will fall from 148.4 bcfd this week to 127.9 bcfd next week and 122.9 bcfd in two weeks. The forecasts for this week and next were higher than LSEG's outlook on Thursday.

The amount of gas flowing to the eight big U.S. LNG export plants has risen to an average of 15.5 bcfd so far in February, up from 14.6 bcfd in January. That compares with a monthly record high of 14.7 bcfd in December 2023.

On a daily basis, LNG feedgas was on track to hit a record 16.5 bcfd on Thursday, topping the prior all-time daily high of 16.4 bcfd on Wednesday.

The LNG daily feedgas record occurred as flows to Venture Global's VG.N 3.2-bcfd Plaquemines LNG export plant under construction in Louisiana were on track to hit record highs of 1.6 bcfd from Wednesday to Friday.

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 partly to supply disruptions and sanctions linked to Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Gas was trading at around $15 per mmBtu at the Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF) TRNLTTFMc1 benchmark in Europe and $14 at the Japan Korea Marker (JKM) JKMc1 benchmark in Asia. NG/EU

text_section_type="notes">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.For Interactive Map, type 'Interactive Map' in the box at upper left of the LSEG terminalFor graphics on Baker Hughes rig counts, see: http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/15/rigcount/index.htmlFor next-day SNL U.S. gas prices, see: 0#SNL-NGFor next-day SNL U.S. power prices, see: 0#SNL-PWRFor U.S. natgas price and storage polls, see: NGAS/POLLFor U.S. nuclear power outages, see: NUKE/For U.S. Northwest hydro power report, see: NWRFCFor U.S./Canada natural gas rig count vs Henry Hub futures price, see: http://tmsnrt.rs/2eT9k44For the U.S. natural gas speed guide, see: USGASFor the U.S. power speed guide, see: USPOWERTo 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#3CFTC023651NYMEX Henry Hub futures only 0#1CFTC023651ICE Henry Hub options and futures combined 0#3CFTC023391NYMEX Henry Hub swaps options and futures combined 0#3CFTC03565BNYMEX Henry Hub Penultimate gas swaps 0#3CFTC03565C

(Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by Paul Simao)

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