Natural Gas Storage Levels Back to Blog
The Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report, brought out by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) every Thursday since 2002, includes updates on natural gas market prices, the latest storage level estimates, recent weather data and other market activities or events. Stockpiles held in underground storage in the lower 48 states rose by 72 billion cubic feet (Bcf) for the week ended Jun 28, 2013. The increase, the twelfth injection of 2013, exceeded both last year’s build of 41 Bcf and the 5-year (2008–2012) average addition of 71 Bcf for the reported week. Despite past week’s build, the current storage level, at 2.605 trillion cubic feet (Tcf), is down 491 Bcf (15.9%) from the last year and is 30 Bcf (1.1%) below the benchmark five-year average.
Natural gas stocks hit an all-time high of 3.929 Tcf last year, as production from dense rock formations (shale) – through novel techniques of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing – remained robust. In fact, the oversupply of natural gas pushed down prices to a 10-year low of $1.82 per million Btu (MMBtu) during late Apr 2012 (referring to spot prices at the Henry Hub, the benchmark supply point in Louisiana). Since that time, natural gas prices have increased to above $4.00 per MMBtu encouraging exploration.