Platts pre-report analyst survey suggests US EIA data will show a 98-to 102-Bcf addition in natural gas stocks for the latest reporting week
Washington - June 2, 2010
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) is expected Thursday to report a net injection of 98 to 102 billion cubic feet (Bcf) to natural gas storage for the week that ended May 21, according to a Platts survey of analysts.
A build within expectations would compare with a 106-Bcf build during the same week of 2009 and a five-year-average net injection of 94 Bcf, according to EIA. As a result, both the 73-Bcf surplus to last year and the 308-Bcf surplus over the five-year average are expected to expand.
Beyond the consensus, the wider range of analyst expectations for the latest reporting week spanned from builds of 94 Bcf to 110 Bcf.
Kent Bayazitoglu, director of market analytics at Gelber &x Associates, said mild weather last week across much of the U.S. kept gas demand light and should produce the first triple-digit injection of the year.
"Last week's bearish injection in relation to the late season cold weather helped trigger the selloff of last week's rally,” he said. “An injection of under 100 Bcf could start another rally."
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This analyst survey is conducted by Platts’ editorial team in Washington DC and is published every Wednesday morning, one day ahead of the 10:30 am (EST) Thursday release of the weekly natural gas storage report of the US Energy Information Administration. Platts has been conducting this survey since January 2007. IMPORTANT NOTE TO EDITORS: The survey results attached above do not contain commentary from a Platts staff member. The survey is conducted and prepared by the Platts market news editors, but the views are those of non-Platts market analysts. The survey includes 15 to 25 analysts, some on a rotational basis. This differs from the weekly pre-report analyst survey of EIA/API US oil stocks data conducted each week by Platts editors, which does include the views of Platts’ editors.
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