The Platts pre-report analyst survey suggests U.S. EIA data will show an 80-84 Bcf addition to natural gas stocks for the latest reporting week Washington - July 8, 2009 The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Thursday is expected to report an addition of between 80 and 84 billion cubic feet (Bcf) to natural gas storage inventories for the week that ended July 3, according to a Platts survey of analysts. An injection within expectations would be smaller than last year's 89-Bcf build and the five-year-average injection of 90 Bcf, according to EIA. As a result, the year-on-year surplus of 615 Bcf and the 467-Bcf surplus over the five-year average are each likely to narrow. The broader range of analyst expectations spanned from a build of 72 Bcf to 100 Bcf. First Energy Capital analyst Martin King noted that both the West and producing regions are at record levels for this time of year, and he expects that both regions could reach capacity by the end of August, two months ahead of schedule. As the producing region's storage capacity fills, more gas will start to push into the East, which still has room to spare, King said. Subsequently, he said, gas prices could come under "severe downward pressure" unless tropical storms shut in substantial production or extreme heat ramps up demand.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Thursday is expected to report an addition of between 80 and 84 billion cubic feet (Bcf) to natural gas storage inventories for the week that ended July 3, according to a Platts survey of analysts.
An injection within expectations would be smaller than last year's 89-Bcf build and the five-year-average injection of 90 Bcf, according to EIA. As a result, the year-on-year surplus of 615 Bcf and the 467-Bcf surplus over the five-year average are each likely to narrow.
The broader range of analyst expectations spanned from a build of 72 Bcf to 100 Bcf.
First Energy Capital analyst Martin King noted that both the West and producing regions are at record levels for this time of year, and he expects that both regions could reach capacity by the end of August, two months ahead of schedule.
As the producing region's storage capacity fills, more gas will start to push into the East, which still has room to spare, King said. Subsequently, he said, gas prices could come under "severe downward pressure" unless tropical storms shut in substantial production or extreme heat ramps up demand.