The natural gas markets settled last week, after the weather disruptions from recent weeks in the Gulf of Mexico and East coast of the US have stir up the energy market. Natural gas (Henry Hub) prices declined last week by 1.2%, only to rise again during this week.
Here is a summary of the recent U.S natural gas market EIA report regarding the week ending on September 9th:
Natural gas Storage
The underground natural gas storage (Billion Cubic Feet) rose for the twenty-third straight week; last week by 2.9% or by 87 Bcf; the natural gas storage rose to 3,112 billion cubic feet for all lower 48 states – the highest stock level since December 24th, 2011; the natural gas storage is still 1.6% below the 5-year average, and 4.3% below the storage level during the same week in 2010.
This increase in storage was primarily due to a 59 Bcf injection in the Eastern Consuming Region natural gas storage.
The chart below shows the natural gas storage (weekly figures) and Henry Hub natural gas prices in 2011; the Henry Hub spot price fell last week by 1.2% to an average weekly price of $3.96/mmbtu, and was $0.16/mmbtu above its price level the same week last year.
Consumption
US natural gas consumption slightly decreased by 1.9% over the week with the power sector leading the drop with a 4.1% decrease. The residential and commercial sectors recorded a 0.2% decline during last week.
Production and Imports
The U.S. total nominal gas supply bounced back and gained 3.3% (w-o-w): this was due to the increase in production of dry natural gas of 3.3% as it reached an average of 62.1 Bcf; there was also a sharp incline in natural gas imports from Canada last week of 4.0%. LNG imports, on the other hand, didn’t change much last week and reached an average of 380 million cubic feet (MMcf) per day.
According to the report the natural gas rig count fell again by 3 during the week to reach 892.
The US temperatures were much cooler than last week, but still slightly warmer than normal: they have reached a weekly average of 71.1 degrees for the week ending on September 8th, which were 0.9 degrees warmer than normal, and 0.1 degrees above the temperatures from last year (same week).
Prices for the week ending September 9th
Natural gas spot price (Henry Hub) rose during the week by 0.76% and reached on Friday $3.96/mmbtu; its average daily change was -0.96%; its weekly average price was 1.42% below previous week’s average.
Nymex Henry Hub Future Price (October delivery) slightly declined by 0.46% during the week, and its average price was 0.10% below last week’s average price.
A detailed analysis of natural gas prices for the week of September 9th is herein.
To sum up, natural gas storage, imports and production inclined while natural gas consumption fell during the week of September 9th.
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Previous reviews:
- Tropical Depression Lee caused disruption in natural gas production– September 9
- Weather disruptions may have driven natural gas prices high– September 1
- Hurricane Irene may reduce natural gas consumption in US– August 25