EIA - Natural Gas Storage Report - Dec 14

[dan_s]

Working gas in storage was 3,664 Bcf as of Friday, December 8, 2023, according to EIA estimates.
This represents a net decrease of 55 Bcf from the previous week.
Stocks were 245 Bcf higher than last year at this time and 260 Bcf above the five-year average of 3,404 Bcf.
At 3,664 Bcf, total working gas is within the five-year historical range.

Normal winter demand will wipe out the surplus to last year's inventory by the end of January. It will increase over the next three weeks and then plunge in first half of January because the build during the first three weeks of January 2023 was a record low.

If we have a normal Q1 winter and LNG exports remain near 14 Bcf per day, U.S. ngas storage should be back to the 5-year average in April 2024. Keep in mind that demand for U.S. natural gas goes up each year, so higher storage levels are necessary.