Natural Gas Storage Report - Feb 18

[dan_s]

Working gas in storage was 2,706 Bcf as of Friday, February 12, 2016, according to EIA estimates. This represents a net decline of 158 Bcf from the previous week. Stocks were 532 Bcf higher than last year at this time and 555 Bcf above the five-year average of 2,151 Bcf. At 2,706 Bcf, total working gas is within the five-year historical range.

It is now looking like storage at the end of the winter heating season will be 2,200 to 2,300 Bcf, compared to the 5-year average of 1,608 Bcf. That is high, but not crazy high. In December, I saw predictions of ending storage over 3,000 Bcf.

U.S. gas production is now declining by 0.4 Bcf per day month-after-month.
See for yourself at: http://www.eia.gov/petroleum/drilling/#tabs-summary-2

Falling production combined with increasing summer demand for power generation should give some support for gas prices this year. El Nino winters have a habit of extending into April, which would sure help.