Platts pre-report analyst survey suggests US EIA data will show an 37- to 41-Bcf addition in natural gas stocks for the latest reporting week

Washington - August 25, 2010

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) is expected Thursday to report a net injection of 37 to 41 billion cubic feet (Bcf) to natural gas storage for the week that ended August 20, according to a Platts survey of analysts.

A build within those expectations would be smaller than the 53-Bcf injection in the comparable week of 2009 and the five-year-average of 59 Bcf, according to the EIA. As a result, the 185-Bcf deficit to last year is likely to expand, while the 19-Bcf surplus over the five-year average is expected to narrow.

Beyond the consensus, the broader range of analyst estimates for the week ending August 20 spanned from injections of 28 Bcf to 46 Bcf.

Gas demand for power generation “has been running exceptionally strong, with aggregate loads short of only the record 2007 levels during the past week," analysts with Barclays Capital said in explaining why less gas than normal was available for storage injection.

FirstEnergy Capital analyst Martin King expects the EIA to report a fifth consecutive net storage withdrawal in the Gulf Coast/Midcontinent producing region as weather in the southern US last week was "quite hot, and futures-to-cash differentials were generally supportive for pulling gas from storage."

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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 a.m. (ET) Thursday release of the weekly natural gas storage report of the U. Energy Information Administration. Platts has been conducting this survey since January 2007. The survey includes 15 to 25 analysts, some on a rotational basis.

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