Natural Gas News – February 15, 2018

Natural Gas News – February 15, 2018

Low U.S. Natural Gas Stocks, Pipe Delays May Hamper Exports to Mexico

Boe Report reported: Unusually low U.S. natural gas inventories and delays in new cross-border pipeline capacity could slow exports this year to Mexico, which is heavily dependent on its northern neighbor for the fuel, analysts said on Monday. Frigid temperatures led to a record withdrawal of 359 billion cubic feet (bcf) in the week ended Jan. 5 and the second highest draw of 288 bcf in week to Jan. 19, pushing inventories far below the five-year average. U.S. gas stockpiles are at 2.078 trillion cubic feet (tcf), about 16 percent below the five-year average of 2.471 tcf for this time of year. That is the lowest amount of gas in storage for the corresponding period since 2014. Over the past 30 days, U.S. exports to Mexico via pipelines have averaged 3.93 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd), lower than the 4.03 bcfd during the same period a year earlier, according to Thomson Reuters data. Delays in the cross-border Nueva Era pipeline also underscores the near-term challenges for Mexico to increase U.S. gas pipeline imports, according to a report by analysts at Mizuho Energy.

NYMEX March Gas Holds Steady, Settles at $2.587/MMBtu

Platts reported: The NYMEX March natural gas futures contract was relatively unchanged Wednesday, settling 0.7 cent lower at $2.587/MMBtu, as the market took a break from what has been a volatile month so far. Despite record US demand and gas storage numbers that are well below the five-year average during February, the NYMEX front-month contract has experienced sharp declines since March took over as the front-month contract, as forecasts of warmer-than-average weather and strong production have driven prices down. Wednesday’s small price movement takes a step back from drops in the front-month contract, as the contract has fallen $1.04, or 28.6%, over the prior 12 trading days.