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US natural gas futures held near a nine-week high on Friday after a technical bounce in the prior
session and as a lack of wind power this week caused generators to burn more gas to produce electricity.
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Traders also said prices were supported this week by a drop in gas exports from Canada due to wildfires in Alberta and others
western provinces.
The amount of US power generated by wind this week was on track to drop to just 7% of the total versus a recent high of 17%
During the week ended April 21, according to federal energy data.
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That means power generators had to burn more gas to produce electricity, and there will be less of the fuel available to go
into storage.
The amount of power generated by gas was on track to hit 43% this week, up from a recent low of just 37% during the windy week
ended April 21.
Front-month gas futures for June delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 0.7 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at
$2.585 per million British thermal units (mmBtu). On Thursday, the contract jumped about 10% to settle at its highest since March
13.
In intraday trade on Friday, the front-month rose over its 100-day moving average for the first time since late November,
but failed to remain above that level at the close. The contract has not closed above the 100-day moving average, a key level of
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technical resistance, since September 2022.
The front-month also remained in technically overbought territory with a relative strength index (RSI) of more than 70 for
a second day in a row for the first time since July 2022.
For the week, the contract gained about 14% this week after rising about 6% last week. That was its biggest weekly percentage
increase since early March when it soared about 23%.
But all gas prices were not up. In the spot market, mild weather and sample hydropower in the US West pressured next-day
gas for Friday at the PG&E Citygate
Over the past couple of weeks the average amount of gas flowing from Canada to the US averaged just 7.1 billion cubic feet
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per day (bcfd) as wildfires in Alberta and other western provinces caused some producers to shut oil and gas output, according to
data provider Refinitiv.
That is well below the 8.4-bcfd average amount of gas exported from Canada to the US since the start of the year and 2022’s
average of 9.0 bcfd. About 8% of the gas consumed in or exported from the US comes from Canada.
On a daily basis, Canadian gas exports were on track to reach 7.3 bcfd on Friday, up from a 25-month low of 6.4 bcfd on
Wednesday.
In the US, meanwhile, Refinitiv said average gas output in the Lower 48 states held at 101.4 bcfd so far in May, matching
April’s monthly record.
Meteorologists projected the weather in the US Lower 48 states would remain mostly near normal through June 3.
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Refinitiv forecast US gas demand, including exports, would slide from 93.0 bcfd this week to 89.4 bcfd next week before
rising to 90.7 bcfd in two weeks. The forecasts for this week and next were similar to Refinitiv’s outlook on Thursday.
Gas flows to the seven big US LNG export plants fell from a record 14.0 bcfd in April to an average of 12.9 bcfd so far in
May due to maintenance work at several plants, including Cameron LNG in Louisiana and Cheniere Energy Inc’s Sabine Pass in
Louisiana.
Week ended Week ended Year ago Five-year
May 19 May 12 May 19 average
(Forecast) (Actual) May 19
US weekly natgas storage change (bcf): 106 99 88 96
US total natgas in storage (bcf): 2,346 2,240 1,807 1,996
US total storage versus 5-year average 17.5% 17.9%
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Global Gas Benchmark Futures ($ per mmBtu) Current Prior Day This Month Prior Year Five Year
Day Last Year Average Average
2022 (2018-2022)
Henry Hub 2.57 2.59 8.16 6.54 3.60
Title Transfer Facility (TTF) 9.55 9.47 28.96 40.50 14.39
Japan Korea Marker (JKM) 9.72 9.95 22.70 34.11 14.31
Refinitiv Heating (HDD), Cooling (CDD) and Total (TDD) Degree Days
Two-Week Total Forecast Current Prior Day Prior Year 10-Year 30-Year
Day Norm Norm
US GFS HDDs 28 23 37 44 46
US GFS CDDs 99 106 114 102 100
US GFS TDDs 127 129 151 146 146
Refinitiv US Weekly GFS Supply and Demand Forecasts
Prior Week Current Next Week This Week Five-Year
Week Last Year Average For
month
US Supply (bcfd)
US Lower 48 Dry Production 101.3 101.4 101.3 97.0 89.1
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US Imports from Canada 6.3 6.0 6.6 8.2 7.7
US LNG Imports 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1
Total US Supply 107.6 107.4 107.9 105.2 96.9
US Demand (bcfd)
US Exports to Canada 1.8 2.0 2.1 2.8 2.3
US Exports to Mexico 5.6 5.4 5.5 6.1 5.2
US LNG Exports 13.0 12.7 12.7 12.4 7.0
US Commercial 5.4 5.1 4.8 5.0 5.7
US Residential 5.8 4.9 4.5 4.7 6.7
US Power Plant 31.0 34.4 31.6 30.6 27.5
US Industrial 21.4 21.3 21.3 20.8 21.3
US Plant Fuel 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0
US Pipe Distribution 1.9 1.9 1.8 1.9 2.1
US Vehicle Fuel 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
Total US Consumption 70.6 72.9 69.2 68.1 68.4
Total US Demand 91.0 93.0 89.4 89.4 82.9
US weekly power generation percent by fuel – EIA
Week ended Week ended Week ended Week ended Week ended Week ended
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May 12 May 5 May 5 Apr 28 Apr 21
Wind 7 12 13 12 17
Solar 4 5 5 4 5
Hydro 9 9 8 7 7
Other 2 2 2 3 3
Petroleum 0 0 0 0 0
Natural Gas 43 40 39 39 37
Coal 15 14 13 16 14
Nuclear 19 19 19 19 18
SNL US Natural Gas Next-Day Prices ($ per mmBtu)
Hub Current Prior Day
day
Henry Hub
Transco Z6 New York
PG&E Citygate
Eastern Gas (old Dominion South)
Chicago Citygate
Algonquin Citygate
SoCal Citygate
Waha Hub
AECO
SNL US Power Next-Day Prices ($ per megawatt-hour)
Hub Current Prior Day
day
New England
PJM West
Ercot North
Mid C
Palo Verde
SP-15
(Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by Jan Harvey and Marguerita Choy)
financialpost.com
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