Westcoast Constraints Cut Canadian Natural Gas Imports

A recent capacity constraint on Westcoast Energy's T-South system has significantly impacted western Canadian imports into the Pacific Northwest, resulting in increased regional prices. The Northwest Sumas spot settled at $3.345/MMBtu on Wednesday, up 8 cents from the previous day and marking a 10-day moving average of $2.981 that rose 8.4 cents day-over-day.

According to NGI's Entropic Analytics data, Canadian net imports into the Rockies averaged nearly 2.8 Bcf/d over the 14 gas days ending Wednesday, down 0.19 Bcf/d from the previous two weeks and representing the largest single regional decline in net cross-border flows.

The constraint is attributed to a single corridor rather than broad Canadian weakness, with Gas Transmission Northwest receipts at Kingsgate averaging nearly 2.01 Bcf/d over the last 14 days, down 0.20 Bcf/d week-over-week and accounting for the entire regional drop.