for week ending February 15, 2017 | Release date: February 16, 2017 | Next release: February 23, 2017
...Prices/Supply/Demand:
Prices fall virtually everywhere. This report week (Wednesday, February 8 to Wednesday, February 15), the Henry Hub spot price fell 13¢ from $3.05/MMBtu last Wednesday to $2.92/MMBtu yesterday. Nationally, weather was milder toward the end of the report period, except for on the Gulf Coast, where temperatures declined Tuesday and yesterday.
At the Chicago Citygate, prices decreased 18¢ from last Wednesday to $2.84/MMBtu yesterday. Prices at PG&E Citygate in Northern California fell 9¢ to $3.30/MMBtu yesterday. The price at SoCal Citygate decreased 1¢ to $3.05/MMBtu yesterday.
Northeast prices down as weather moderates. At the Algonquin Citygate, which serves Boston-area consumers, prices were down $1.49 from $5.51/MMBtu last Wednesday to $4.02/MMBtu yesterday. Prices began the week elevated, with cold weather, and peaked on Thursday as a winter storm moved through the region, knocking out power for over 80,000 customers, mostly in Massachusetts.
Similar to Algonquin, at the Transco Zone 6 trading point for New York City, prices decreased $1.39 from $4.50/MMBtu last Wednesday to $3.11/MMBtu yesterday....MUCH MORE
Tennessee Zone 4 Marcellus spot prices decreased 15¢ to $2.46/MMBtu yesterday. Prices at Dominion South in northwest Pennsylvania fell 16¢ to $2.64/MMBtu yesterday.
March Nymex contract down. Following the Henry Hub price, the price of the March 2017 Nymex contract decreased 20¢ over the report period, closing at $2.925/MMBtu yesterday. Weather forecasts of warmer-than-normal temperatures in the coming days may be applying downward pressure on the futures price. The price of the 12-month strip, which averages March 2017 through February 2018 futures contracts, declined 14¢ to $3.248/MMBtu.
Supply increases slightly. According to data from PointLogic, the average total supply of natural gas rose by 1% compared with the previous week, driven by net imports. Dry natural gas production remained constant week over week, whereas average net imports from Canada increased by 9% over the report period.
Demand falls. Total U.S. consumption of natural gas fell by 4% compared with the previous report week, according to data from PointLogic. Outside of the Northeast, average temperatures for this report week were generally warmer than last report week. Week-over-week, power burn declined by 2%, industrial sector consumption decreased by 2%, and residential and commercial sector consumption declined by 7%. Natural gas exports to Mexico increased 3%.
U.S. LNG exports. Natural gas pipeline deliveries to the Sabine Pass liquefaction terminal averaged 2.0 Bcf/d for the report week, 6% lower than in the previous week. Four vessels (combined LNG-carrying capacity of 14.0 Bcf) departed Sabine Pass last week.
...Storage:
Unseasonable mild temperatures during the week contribute to smaller than average net withdrawals. Net withdrawals from storage totaled 114 Bcf, compared with the five-year (2012–16) average net withdrawal of 156 Bcf and last year's net withdrawals of 136 Bcf during the same week. Warmer temperatures throughout the week for most of the Lower 48 states contributed to decreased heating demand for natural gas and lower withdrawals from storage. Working gas stocks total 2,445 Bcf, which is 87 Bcf more than the five-year average and 303 Bcf less than last year at this time....
