Once again Dear Europe I query, any chance you'd be willing to turn a few of the LNG takers back to the U.S.?
Because, well, while we saw "Early Winter Temperature Forecasts For Western and Central Europe: Average to Slightly Above Average" a couple weeks ago, what I didn't mention was: It might be a bit chillier than average in the natural-gas-heating areas of the USA.
And from OilPrice, August 18:
Falling far short of market expectations, the United States added only 18 billion cubic feet into its natural gas inventories for the week ending August 12, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) noted in its weekly natural gas inventory report on Thursday.
The low injection rate for the week, compared to expectations of around 30 Bcf, pushed natural gas futures up early on Thursday, according to Natural Gas Intelligence.Heading into the fall and winter, this is a comparatively low injection rate. During the same week last year, the inventories gained 46 Bcf.
Recently, U.S. natural gas futures have been gaining significant ground at highs surpassing anything seen in well over a decade due to increased momentum in exports that could leave the country short of supplies.
Earlier this week, Bloomberg reported that U.S. supplies are still more than 10% below normal levels for this time of year.
Natural gas futures had slipped somewhat earlier in the week as traders calculated the supply was recovering, ahead of the EIA’s Thursday report....
....MUCH MORE
And from the EIA, natural gas in storage is far below average and appears to be heading toward new lows as we enter the shoulder season (fill-up time):
