Natural Gas Storage
Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2016 10:03 am
A few months ago, in one of my weekly podcasts, I predicted that natural gas in storage would be close to the 5-year average by year-end.
On 12/9/2016 gas in storage was 3,806 Bcf.
There are three more weekly storage reports remaining for 2016. The week ending Friday, December 30 will be reported the first week of January.
The 5-year average for natural gas in storage at year-end is 3,198 Bcf. 3,806 - 3,198 = 608 Bcf
The next two weekly storage reports combined should show a drop of well over 400 Bcf, so we have a good shot of seeing gas storage back to the 5-year average by year-end.
Temperatures in the eastern half of the U.S. should be slightly above normal for the week after Christmas before it turns colder again in January.
A few things to remember:
> We now have a dozen more gas fired power plants that run all year, replacements for coal fired power plants
> Canada has less gas to send us
> We now export more than 5 Bcf per day (LNG + pipelines to Mexico)
> The number of homes which use natural gas for space heating increases year-after-year.
My SWAG: "Normal" winter temperatures in the eastern half of the U.S. during January will push natural gas in storage below the 5-year average.
On 12/9/2016 gas in storage was 3,806 Bcf.
There are three more weekly storage reports remaining for 2016. The week ending Friday, December 30 will be reported the first week of January.
The 5-year average for natural gas in storage at year-end is 3,198 Bcf. 3,806 - 3,198 = 608 Bcf
The next two weekly storage reports combined should show a drop of well over 400 Bcf, so we have a good shot of seeing gas storage back to the 5-year average by year-end.
Temperatures in the eastern half of the U.S. should be slightly above normal for the week after Christmas before it turns colder again in January.
A few things to remember:
> We now have a dozen more gas fired power plants that run all year, replacements for coal fired power plants
> Canada has less gas to send us
> We now export more than 5 Bcf per day (LNG + pipelines to Mexico)
> The number of homes which use natural gas for space heating increases year-after-year.
My SWAG: "Normal" winter temperatures in the eastern half of the U.S. during January will push natural gas in storage below the 5-year average.