Natural Gas Storage Report Injection Season Week 3 (Week Ending April 20, 2018)

The withdrawals have lasted yet another week. This marks the third week in a row that injection season has seen a withdrawal, and the current pull of 18 Bcf still managed to surpass the market expectation of 12 Bcf. Last year we saw an injection of 71 Bcf and the five year average stands at 60 Bcf. Another unusual withdrawal made the market increase the expiring May contract to as high as $2.814 and the June contract to $2.839. There were expectations in the range of 9 Bcf- 22 Bcf with some even expecting a small injection. Future weather outlooks are looking to be mild with 70’s and 80 degrees in most of the country. The Northeast is projected to have weather in the high 60’s  for places like New York and Boston. With these type of future mild temperatures  in the forecast, we can expect for the market to lean bearish as the short term support for the bulls might be coming to an end.

Current working natural gas inventories stands at 1,281 Bcf. This figure is 897 Bcf (41.2%) less than this time last year and 527 Bcf (29.1%) below the five year average.

The May 2018 NYMEX Futures price was $2.788/MMBtu prior to the report’s release and has since increased to $2.83/MMBtu.