EIA Natural Gas Storage Report 03-16-23
Summary
Working gas in storage was 1,972 Bcf as of Friday, March 10, 2023, according to EIA estimates. This represents a net decrease of 58 Bcf from the previous week.
Analyst expected today’s EIA weekly storage report to show a decrease at about 59 Bcf.
Stocks were 521 Bcf higher than last year at this time and 378 Bcf above the five-year average of 1,594 Bcf. At 1,972 Bcf, total working gas is within the five-year historical range.
The 12- and 24- month natural gas strip prices dropped from last week, settling at $3.179/Dth (down 6.09%) and 3.491 (down 5.42%) respectively.
As the winter heating and storage-withdrawal season comes to an end, the gas futures market has remained bearish. The upcoming colder weather hasn’t impacted prices since it has been offset by the widening storage surplus.
After a brief warm-up today and tomorrow, a very strong cold shot will enter the Plains and Midwest by Friday and spread across the East and South this weekend into Monday, leading to much below normal temperatures over a wide area, especially in the South. Widespread lows in the teens and 20s across the Midwest and Northeast, with 30s and 40s in the South, will produce a burst of late-season heating demand. A chilly and stormy West will lead to more heating demand, flooding in California, and additional snowpack increases in the Northwest.
Following a rocky start-up in mid-February, feed gas flows to the Freeport LNG export terminal have also begun ramping recently, signaling a further tightening in US market fundamentals over the coming weeks. The uptick in deliveries comes following approval from US regulators late last week for Freeport to resume production at its third liquefaction train – the facility’s final unit to be restarted. Over the past week, feed gas deliveries have ramped back up to over 1 Bcf/d as the facility prepares to resume full production.
Natural Gas Futures
Read more: EIA
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