By Dan Molinski
U.S. government natural-gas data due Thursday are expected to show inventories increased last week by a smaller-than-normal amount as Texas’s unrelenting, triple-digit heat kept cooling demand levels high.
The Energy Information Administration is expected to report that gas in storage rose by 33 billion cubic feet during the week ended Aug. 18, according to the average forecast of 12 analysts, brokers and traders surveyed by The Wall Street Journal.
Estimates range from increases of 29 bcf to 39 bcf. The average forecast compares with a rise of 54 bcf for the same week last year, and a five-year average rise of 49 bcf.
The EIA is scheduled to release its natural-gas storage data for the week at 10:30 a.m. ET Thursday.
A 33-bcf increase would mean gas stockpiles totaled 3.098 trillion cubic feet, up 20.6% from last year’s total at this time, and 10.1% above the five-year average for this time of year.
The surplus is partly the result of domestic natural-gas production that surged to all-time highs at the start of 2023 and has stayed high. Also, demand struggled during the first half of the year because of a mild winter and a weak U.S. manufacturing sector.
Consumption rates are looking better so far in the second half of the year, however, as summer heat has extended longer than normal in several regions, boosting gas-fired electricity demand for cooling purposes.
Write to Dan Molinski at [email protected]
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