By Scott DiSavino
June 6 (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas futures climbed about 3% to a four-week high on Friday on expectations hot weather will soon prompt businesses crank up air conditioners, boosting demand for gas-fired power even as some liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plants exit maintenance outages.
Gas futures NGc1 for July delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 10.7 cents, or 2.9%, to settle at $3.784 per million British thermal units, their highest close since May 9.
For the week, the contract was up about 10% after gaining about 3% last week.
The last time energy firms added 100 bcf or more gas into storage for seven weeks in a row was in June 2014, according to federal energy data going back to 2010.
SUPPLY AND DEMAND
Financial firm LSEG said average gas output in the Lower 48 U.S. states fell to 104.8 billion cubic feet per day so far in June from 105.2 bcfd in May and a monthly record high of 106.3 bcfd in March. The reduction so far this month, however, was smaller than previously projected.
Meteorologists projected weather across the Lower 48 states would remain mostly warmer than normal through June 21.
LSEG forecast average gas demand in the Lower 48, including exports, will rise from 95.4 bcfd this week to 97.7 bcfd next week and 100.4 bcfd in two weeks. The forecasts for this week and next were similar to LSEG's outlook on Thursday.
The average amount of gas flowing to the eight big U.S. LNG export plants fell to 13.8 bcfd so far in June, down from 15.0 bcfd in May and a monthly record high of 16.0 bcfd in April.
Traders said LNG feedgas reductions since April were primarily due to spring maintenance, including work at Cameron LNG's 2.0-bcfd plant in Louisiana and Cheniere Energy's LNG.N 4.5-bcfd Sabine Pass in Louisiana and 3.9-bcfd Corpus Christi in Texas, and short, unplanned unit outages at Freeport LNG's 2.1-bcfd plant in Texas on May 6, May 23, May 28 and June 3.
With maintenance reducing flows to Sabine, the nation's biggest LNG export plant, and as new units enter service at Venture Global LNG's VG.N 3.2-bcfd Plaquemines in Louisiana, the country's newest plant, the amount of gas expected to flow to each facility was on track to reach around 2.8 bcfd on Friday - a 23-month low for Sabine and an all-time high for Plaquemines.
Energy traders have noted that LNG maintenance would likely continue through early- to mid-June at Cameron and late-June at Sabine.
| Week ended Jun 6 Forecast | Week ended May 30 Actual | Year ago Jun 6 | Five-year average Jun 6 |
|
U.S. weekly natgas storage change (bcf): | +105 | +122 | +77 | +87 |
|
U.S. total natgas in storage (bcf): | 2,703 | 2,598 | 2,963 | 2,568 |
|
U.S. total storage versus 5-year average | +5.3% | +4.7% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Global Gas Benchmark Futures ($ per mmBtu) | Current Day | Prior Day | This Month Last Year | Prior Year Average 2024 | Five-Year Average (2019-2023) |
Henry Hub NGc1 | 3.73 | 3.68 | 2.81 | 2.41 | 3.52 |
Title Transfer Facility (TTF) TRNLTTFMc1 | 12.03 | 12.24 | 10.87 | 10.95 | 15.47 |
Japan Korea Marker (JKM) JKMc1 | 12.42 | 12.37 | 12.30 | 11.89 | 15.23 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
LSEG Heating (HDD), Cooling (CDD) and Total (TDD) Degree Days |
|
|
|
|
|
Two-Week Total Forecast | Current Day | Prior Day | Prior Year | 10-Year Norm | 30-Year Norm |
U.S. GFS HDDs | 9 | 9 | 10 | 18 | 18 |
U.S. GFS CDDs | 172 | 170 | 160 | 143 | 140 |
U.S. GFS TDDs | 181 | 179 | 170 | 161 | 158 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
LSEG U.S. Weekly GFS Supply and Demand Forecasts |
|
|
|
|
|
| Prior Week | Current Week | Next Week | This Week Last Year | Five-Year (2020-2024)Average For Month |
U.S. Supply (bcfd) |
|
|
|
|
|
U.S. Lower 48 Dry Production | 105.4 | 104.9 | 104.7 | 101.2 | 96.8 |
U.S. Imports from Canada | 8.0 | 7.5 | 7.4 | N/A | 7.3 |
U.S. LNG Imports | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Total U.S. Supply | 113.4 | 112.4 | 112.2 | N/A | 104.1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
U.S. Demand (bcfd) |
|
|
|
|
|
U.S. Exports to Canada | 1.6 | 1.7 | 1.8 | N/A | 2.3 |
U.S. Exports to Mexico | 7.4 | 7.4 | 7.4 | N/A | 6.3 |
U.S. LNG Exports | 15.1 | 13.5 | 13.9 | 13.2 | 9.1 |
U.S. Commercial | 5.0 | 4.7 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.8 |
U.S. Residential | 4.8 | 4.1 | 3.7 | 3.8 | 4.3 |
U.S. Power Plant | 31.6 | 34.5 | 37.0 | 37.0 | 38.0 |
U.S. Industrial | 22.4 | 22.3 | 22.1 | 21.6 | 21.5 |
U.S. Plant Fuel | 5.2 | 5.2 | 5.2 | 5.2 | 5.2 |
U.S. Pipe Distribution | 1.9 | 1.9 | 2.0 | 1.9 | 2.8 |
U.S. Vehicle Fuel | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 |
Total U.S. Consumption | 71.0 | 72.9 | 74.7 | 74.1 | 76.8 |
Total U.S. Demand | 95.0 | 95.4 | 97.7 | N/A | 88.2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
N/A is Not Available |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
U.S. Northwest River Forecast Center (NWRFC) at The Dalles Dam (Fiscal year ending Sep 30) | 2025 Current Day % of Normal Forecast | 2025 Prior Day % of Normal Forecast | 2024 % of Normal Actual | 2023 % of Normal Actual | 2022 % of Normal Actual |
Apr-Sep | 79 | 79 | 74 | 83 | 107 |
Jan-Jul | 80 | 80 | 76 | 77 | 102 |
Oct-Sep | 82 | 81 | 77 | 76 | 103 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
U.S. weekly power generation percent by fuel - EIA |
|
|
|
|
|
| Week ended Jun 6 | Week ended May 30 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
Wind | 10 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 11 |
Solar | 8 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
Hydro | 8 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
Other | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
Petroleum | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Natural Gas | 40 | 39 | 42 | 41 | 38 |
Coal | 15 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 21 |
Nuclear | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
SNL U.S. Natural Gas Next-Day Prices ($ per mmBtu) |
|
|
|
|
|
Hub | Current Day | Prior Day |
|
|
|
Henry Hub NG-W-HH-SNL | 2.86 | 2.80 |
|
|
|
Transco Z6 New York NG-CG-NY-SNL | 1.88 | 2.15 |
|
|
|
PG&E Citygate NG-CG-PGE-SNL | 3.17 | 3.35 |
|
|
|
Eastern Gas (old Dominion South) NG-PCN-APP-SNL | 1.76 | 1.98 |
|
|
|
Chicago Citygate NG-CG-CH-SNL | 2.71 | 2.77 |
|
|
|
Algonquin Citygate NG-CG-BS-SNL | 2.73 | 4.35 |
|
|
|
SoCal Citygate NG-SCL-CGT-SNL | 3.49 | 3.63 |
|
|
|
Waha Hub NG-WAH-WTX-SNL | 1.68 | 1.59 |
|
|
|
AECO NG-ASH-ALB-SNL | 0.91 | 0.62 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
ICE U.S. Power Next-Day Prices ($ per megawatt-hour) |
|
|
|
|
|
Hub | Current Day | Prior Day |
|
|
|
New England E-NEPLMHP-IDX | 41.17 | 56.74 |
|
|
|
PJM West E-PJWHDAP-IDX | 46.09 | 49.77 |
|
|
|
Mid C W-MIDCP-IDX | 44.49 | 50.26 |
|
|
|
Palo Verde W-PVP-IDX | 39.46 | 40.11 |
|
|
|
SP-15 W-SP15-IDX | 22.82 | 24.03 |
|
|
|
For gas data on the LSEG terminal type ENERGY in the search bar and then go to the GAS drop down and the NORTH AMERICA drop down.
For Interactive Map, type 'Interactive Map' in the box at upper left of the LSEG terminal
For graphics on Baker Hughes rig counts, see: http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/15/rigcount/index.html
For next-day SNL U.S. gas prices, see: 0#SNL-NG
For next-day SNL U.S. power prices, see: 0#SNL-PWR
For U.S. natgas price and storage polls, see: NGAS/POLL
For U.S. nuclear power outages, see: NUKE/
For U.S. Northwest hydro power report, see: NWRFC
For U.S./Canada natural gas rig count vs Henry Hub futures price, see: http://tmsnrt.rs/2eT9k44
For the U.S. natural gas speed guide, see: USGAS
For the U.S. power speed guide, see: USPOWER
To determine CFTC managed money net position add (NYMEX Henry Hub options and futures combined 3023651MNET) plus (ICE Henry Hub options and futures combined 3023391MNET divided by four) plus (NYMEX Henry Hub swaps options and futures combined 303565BMNET divided by four) plus (NYMEX Henry Hub penultimate gas swaps 303565CMNET divided by four)
NYMEX Henry Hub options and futures combined 0#3CFTC023651
NYMEX Henry Hub futures only 0#1CFTC023651
ICE Henry Hub options and futures combined 0#3CFTC023391
NYMEX Henry Hub swaps options and futures combined 0#3CFTC03565B
NYMEX Henry Hub Penultimate gas swaps 0#3CFTC03565C