Thursday, March 28, 2013

Natural Gas: In What Should Be the Start Of Injection Season, Market Instead Pulls 95Bcf From Storage

And the market yawns. The front futures are flat at $4.07. Yesterday was the highest close in 18 months and the pep seems to have gone out of the longs.
From Bloomberg:
Natural Gas Fluctuates After Supplies Decline More Than Forecast
Natural gas futures fluctuated in New York after a government report showed that U.S. stockpiles fell more than forecast last week.

Gas gained as much as 1.3 percent after an Energy Information Administration report showed inventories dropped 95 billion cubic feet in the week ended March 22 to 1.781 trillion cubic feet. Analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg showed an expected withdrawal of 90 billion. Gas has surged 21 percent this quarter as winter storms brought below-normal temperatures.

“The market responded to it, but we couldn’t break a new high,” said Gene McGillian, an analyst and broker with Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut. “That suggests that while it was higher than expected, it’s already priced in. Normally, when you get a number that’s bullish, you get a stronger reaction.”

Natural gas for May delivery rose 0.1 cent to $4.069 per million British thermal units at 10:39 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gas traded at $4.055 before the storage number was released at 10:30 a.m. in Washington. Trading was 40 percent above the 100-day average for the time of day. The fuel has climbed 16 percent this month, heading for the largest monthly gain since September....MORE
Here's today's action via FinViz:
From the EIA:
Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report

for week ending March 22, 2013.   |   Released: March 28, 2013 at 10:30 a.m.   |   Next Release: April 4, 2013

Working gas in underground storage, lower 48 states Summary text CSV JSN


Historical Comparisons
Stocks
billion cubic feet (Bcf)

Year ago
(03/22/12)
5-Year average
(2008-2012)
Region 03/22/13 03/15/13 change
(Bcf) % change (Bcf) % change
East 710 783 -73
1,070 -33.6 751 -5.5
West 334 339 -5
344 -2.9 261 28.0
Producing 737 754 -17
1,009 -27.0 707 4.2
   Salt 178 180 -2
245 -27.3 122 45.9
   Nonsalt 558 574 -16
764 -27.0 585 -4.6
Total 1,781 1,876 -95
2,423 -26.5 1,720 3.5

Summary

Working gas in storage was 1,781 Bcf as of Friday, March 22, 2013, according to EIA estimates. This represents a net decline of 95 Bcf from the previous week. Stocks were 642 Bcf less than last year at this time and 61 Bcf above the 5-year average of 1,720 Bcf....MORE