Nat Gas News – October 16, 2018

Nat Gas News – October 16, 2018

Natural Gas Jumps on Expectations of Above-Average Cold, with Supplies at Decade Lows

CNBC reported: Natural gas prices jumped Monday on report of below-average cold weather expected across the U.S. at a time when gas supplies are at decade lows. Natural gas futures for November rose 2.6 percent, to $3.242 per million British thermal units. “The updated model from over the weekend showed an early-season cold snap for the bulk of the country, which is the last thing consumers needed to have happen,” said John Kilduff of Again Capital. Natural gas hit a high of $3.37 per mBtu a week ago Tuesday on a cold weather report, but that concern faded and a new 11-day to 15-day forecast shows a blast of cold across the U.S., particularly in the South and in the Midwest. “It’s a different pattern,” said Jacob Meisel, Bespoke Weather Services chief weather analyst. “You’re seeing more risk that cold air masses get trapped across the East. Before, it looked like we’d get warm Pacific air into the East.”

U.S. Looks to Military Bases for Natural Gas, Coal Exports

NOLA reported: The Trump administration is considering using West Coast military bases or other federal properties as transit points for shipments of U.S. coal and natural gas to Asia, as officials seek to bolster the domestic energy industry and circumvent environmental opposition to fossil fuel exports. The proposal was described to The Associated Press by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and two Republican lawmakers. It would advance the administration’s agenda of establishing American “energy dominance” on the world stage and underscores a willingness to intervene in markets to make that happen. It’s also tantamount to an end-run around West Coast officials who have rejected private-sector efforts to build new coal ports in their states. A Democratic senator from Oregon and environmentalists blasted the proposal as undercutting local communities opposed to fossil fuel exports.