Natural Gas Inventories Fall Again, Price Also Falls

The US Energy Information Administration today reported the US natural gas stocks fell by a total of 78 billion cubic feet, at the low end of the drawdown of 78-110 billion cubic feet that analysts had expected. Natural gas prices responded by falling nearly -1% to $2.44/thousand cubic feet, down from last week’s price of $2.45/thousand cubic feet.

The EIA reported that US working stocks of natural gas totaled 2.88 trillion cubic feet, about 714 billion cubic feet higher than the five-year average of 2.17 trillion cubic feet. Working gas in storage totaled 2.17 trillion cubic feet for the same period a year ago.

Natural gas spot prices averaged $2.68/thousand cubic feet in January, their lowest level in 10-years excepting the Labor Day weekend in 2009. At the current rate, the average could be even lower in February as unusually warm winter weather continues in the US.