Markets were pleased to see the first injection to come in below estimates in many weeks. Analysts were tightly clustered around +112 BCF. The +107 report sent gas up more than 18 cents on the day to $4.69.
Natural Gas Weekly Storage Report
Against the 5 year average, inventories now stand 877 BCF below, and against last year 727 BCF below:
Regional inventories varied, with the Consuming West near the low end of the historical range, while storage was much below the range in both the Producing and Consuming East regions:
The shoulder season is rapidly drawing to a close, bring to an end the best opportunity to rebuild storage at an exceptional rate. The inventory shortfall will have a more difficult time closing from here through November, and storage is projected to top out at less than 3.3 TCF, which may pose a challenge as winter approaches and push prices back above $5.00.
