US natural gas inventories look set to top 3 Tcf, with analysts projecting a 44 Bcf injection for the week ended July 10 despite summer heat. The build would trail both last year’s pace and the five-year average, even as Henry Hub prices slipped.
Storage keeps climbing. NGI is projecting a 44 Bcf injection into US natural gas storage for the week ended July 10, a figure that would lift total stocks to 3,027 Bcf. That injection undershoots the year-ago build of 47 Bcf and the 45 Bcf five-year average, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
The estimate follows last week’s 61 Bcf build. Inventories reached 2,983 Bcf as of July 3, which sat 15 Bcf below year-earlier levels but 185 Bcf above the five-year average, per the EIA.
Heat lifts demand but supply holds
Cooling demand rose over the reporting period. The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration said cooling degree days climbed 14.5% week/week.
Supply matched the pull. Dry gas production averaged 110.4 Bcf/d for the week, up 1 Bcf week/week, according to NGI’s Entropic Analytics. Canadian imports averaged 5.64 Bcf/d, up from 5.47 Bcf/d during the first week of July.
Prices ease despite power burn
Demand softened elsewhere. LNG feedgas fell to 18.15 Bcf/d from 18.99 Bcf/d, while electric power generation demand dropped to an average of 50.34 Bcf/d from 51.71 Bcf/d, per Entropic Analytics. Power burn still cleared 50 Bcf/d on three straight days.
Prices leaned lower even so. Henry Hub weekly prices fell 18.5 cents to an average of $3.130/MMBtu.
Source: Natural Gas Intelligence
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