By Kenneth Fung
WASHINGTON (MNI) – The U.S. Energy Information Administration
Thursday is expected to report a draw on natural gas inventories for the
week-ended March 18.
Analysts in a Platts survey project a draw of between 78 billion
and 82 billion cubic feet from natural gas storage last week.
According to Platts, “A drawdown within that range would be smaller
than both the 112 billion cubic feet pull in the same week of 2010 and
the five-year-average of 107 billion cubic feet.”
“As a result, both the 9 billion cubic feet storage deficit to a
year ago and the five-year-average deficit of 15 billion cubic feet are
expected flip to a surplus,” the energy information firm added.
Natural gas inventories normally drop in the fall and winter months
due to higher consumption spurred by cold weather. In its March
Short-Term Energy Outlook, the EIA predicted that by the end of March,
“1,549 billion cubic feet of working natural gas will remain in storage,
a downward revision of about 102 billion cubic feet from last month.”
The agency added that, “Cold temperatures and production
freeze-offs in February contributed to a larger-than-expected draw on
inventories.”
Still, the EIA expects that inventories — though somewhat below
their 2010 levels for the first half of the year — will remain
relatively robust.
Although crude oil prices have surged due to ongoing unrest in the
Middle East, natural gas futures for April delivery have fallen over 18%
since trading $4.80 on January 24.
The EIA’s March Short-Term Energy Outlook projected natural gas
prices to average $4.10 per MMBtu in 2011 and $4.52 per MMBtu in 2012.
–Kenneth Fung is a reporter with Need To Know News in Washington
** Market News International Washington Bureau: 202-371-2121 **
[TOPICS: M$U$$$,MAUDS$]