Natural gas prices pop as huge winter storm slams U.S. northeast; New York City issues travel ban

U.S. natural gas prices rose nearly 3% on Monday as a massive winter storm hit the northeast of the country, affecting 35 million people and leaving hundreds of thousands without power.

It comes as cities and towns across the U.S. east coast brace for a major late-winter storm, with forecasters warning of between 1 to 2 feet of snow in many areas, winds of up to 70 miles per hour and coastal flooding.

Natural gas futures for March delivery traded 2.7% higher at $3.13 per million British thermal units at 9 a.m. London time (4 a.m. ET), paring earlier gains.

The National Weather Service (NWS) said it had placed 35 million U.S. residents under a blizzard warning from Sunday through to Monday.

New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani on Sunday declared a local state of emergency and ordered a citywide travel ban for all vehicles but emergency travel between 9 p.m. local time on Sunday through to midday on Monday.

Mamdani said public schools would also have a "snow day" on Monday. "No online school, no remote learning, full classic snow day," Mamdani said in a social media post on X.

Natural gas prices over the last three months.

Power outages were estimated to have affected hundreds of thousands of people in northeastern states, including more than 100,000 in New Jersey alone, according to data from PowerOutage.us, which collects real-time power outage data from utilities nationwide.

Tens of thousands of people were also impacted in Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania, among others.

Airlines also canceled thousands of flights through Monday night and waived cancellation and change fees for airports spanning Virginia to Maine.