US Natural Gas Prices Stable Ahead of Storage Report
US natural gas prices remained stable on Thursday as the market awaited the weekly storage report. Analysts expect energy firms to have added around 64 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas to storage during the week ended September 25, a figure that compares to an increase of 56 bcf in the same period last year and a five-year average of 80 bcf.
The US Lower 48 states saw average gas output hold at 113.3 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) in September, matching the monthly record high set in August. However, over the past week, output averaged around 110.7 bcfd due to a force majeure declared by Canadian energy firm TC Energy's Columbia Gas Transmission unit on the Mountaineer XPress gas pipe in West Virginia.
Despite the interruption, record output and mild spring weather have allowed energy firms to maintain an inventory surplus above the five-year average since March. However, hotter-than-normal summer weather forced energy firms to pull gas from storage to fuel power plants, reducing the inventory surplus.