EIA Natural Gas Storage Report - Apr 18

[dan_s]

Working gas in storage was 2,333 Bcf as of Friday, April 12, 2024, according to EIA estimates.
This represents a net increase of 50 Bcf from the previous week.
Stocks were 424 Bcf higher than last year at this time and 622 Bcf above the five-year average of 1,711 Bcf.
At 2,333 Bcf, total working gas is above the five-year historical range.

It will take fewer gas well completions, large-cap gassers choking back some of their production, electricity demand ramping up this summer, some hurricane related shut-ins this summer and LNG exports ramping up to rebalance the U.S. natural gas market. It will happen, but it will take most of this year. The large-cap gassers (EQT, CHK, AR, RRC) must keep an eye on storage. They cannot let storage fill too early or the "gas on gas competition" could push ngas prices under $1.00 in Q3.

This is also bad news for gas demand:
EIA: "Last year, U.S. hydropower electricity generation fell to its lowest since 2001. This year, we expect hydropower to increase 6% and account for 250 billion kilowatthours of electricity generation in the power sector, based on forecasts in our Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO). We expect hydropower to increase in nearly every part of the country, with notable increases in the Southeast and in the Northwest and Rockies. We expect other regions with significant hydropower generation to either increase slightly, such as in New York, or remain about the same, such as in California."

Good news for consumers is that utility bills should remain low.