Platts pre-report analyst survey suggests US EIA data will a 178-to 182-Bcf withdrawal in natural gas stocks
Washington - December 22, 2010
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) is expected Thursday to report a withdrawal of between 178 and 182 billion cubic feet (Bcf) from gas storage stocks for the week ending December 17, according to a Platts survey of analysts.
A drawdown within that range would be larger than the 172-Bcf draw in the same week of 2009 and the five-year-average pull of 136 Bcf. As a result, the 35-Bcf storage deficit to last year is expected to grow and the 321-Bcf surplus to the five-year-average is likely to shrink.
Beyond the consensus, analyst estimates for the latest reporting week ranged from withdrawals of 166 Bcf to 192 Bcf.
Jefferies & Company analyst Subash Chandra said weather last week was 3% colder than a year earlier and 13% colder than normal, which prompted a run on storage gas to meet heating demand.
However, "weather is expected to moderate 7% this week," Chandra said. As a result, "storage should hold on to a year-on-year deficit through year end."
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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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