for week ending May 28, 2001 | Release date: May 29, 2001 | Previous weeks
Spot prices at the Henry Hub declined to $3.84 per
MMBtu on Friday, the lowest level since August 1, 2000. Prices at the Henry Hub, the Northeast, and
the Midwest reflected the mild to cooler-than-normal temperatures in the
eastern two-thirds of the nation coupled with anticipation of the Memorial Day
holiday weekend—typically one of the lowest-demand weekends of the year. In
California, early to mid-week prices rose to $10 per MMBtu and beyond in
response to soaring temperatures, but then sagged somewhat with moderating
temperatures later in the week. (See Temperature Map) (See Deviation from Normal
Temperatures Map) The NYMEX futures contract for June delivery at
the Henry Hub fell below the $4.00 per MMBtu level to end the week at
$3.973. Net injections to storage for
the week ended Friday, May 18 were 118 Bcf, marking the fourth week in a row of
record-setting stock builds.
Prices:
A surprise snowstorm hit Denver
Sunday evening (May 20), ushering in winter-like temperatures in the mountain
states for 2-3 days, and boosting Rockies prices by as much as $0.50 before
warming temperatures on Wednesday reduced the gain by a nickel to a dime. In
contrast, a pre-summer heat wave pushed temperatures well into the 80s and 90s
in California and Arizona and sent the PG&E citygate price on Monday to
$7.66 per MMBtu —nearly double its Friday price of $3.97—and boosted SOCAL
prices by over $2.50 to $12.61. Prices continued to rise in California through
Wednesday, when moderating temperatures and forecasts for further cooling
induced some price softening. By Friday, prices at the PG&E citygate stood
at $4.24 per MMBtu, down $3.45 from Monday's levels but $0.28 higher than the
previous Friday. Prices on SOCAL ended
the week at $10.30, up $0.32 from the previous Friday. In the Northeast, mild to cooler-than-normal
temperatures contributed to softening prices there early in the week, although
prices firmed somewhat by midweek. However, by week's end, cash prices were falling nearly everywhere. Several
pipelines were warning of potential high-inventory operational flow orders
(OFOs) in anticipation of marketers looking for a place to park surplus
gas. By Friday, prices at Chicago and
New York citygates were down $0.20 and $0.26, respectively from the previous
Friday and ended the week trading at $3.94 and $4.19 per MMBtu.
The NYMEX futures contract for
June delivery continued its general price decline, during which it has seen 4
consecutive weeks of Friday-to-Friday losses. It settled on Friday at $3.973 per MMBtu, after having lost $0.318 for
the week. This is the first sub-$4
settlement for the near-month contract since August 1, 2000. Since becoming the near-month contract on
April 27, the June contract price dropped by nearly $1.00, or almost 19
percent. As of Friday, the
highest-priced contract through the end of the next heating season (Nov.
through Mar.) was January's $4.623 per MMBtu, while March 2002 traded at the
lowest level at $4.345.
Spot Prices ($ per MMBTU)-Selected
Trading Centers |
Mon. 5/21 |
Tues. 5/22 |
Wed. 5/23 |
Thur. 5/24 |
Fri.
5/25 |
Henry Hub |
4.15 |
4.04 |
4.10 |
4.13 |
3.84 |
New York citygates |
4.53 |
4.43 |
4.47 |
4.49 |
4.19 |
Chicago citygates |
4.23 |
4.11 |
4.17 |
4.21 |
3.94 |
Southern CA (SOCAL) |
12.61 |
13.25 |
13.83 |
12.62 |
10.30 |
Futures (Daily
Settlement, $MMBTU) |
|
|
|
|
|
Near-Month (June) |
4.113 |
4.123 |
4.113 |
4.054 |
3.973 |
July |
4.193 |
4.182 |
4.172 |
4.118 |
4.033 |
Source: Financial Time
Energy, Gas Daily |
Storage:
For the fourth consecutive week,
net storage injections exceeded 100 Bcf with an estimated 118 Bcf added during
the week ended Friday, May 18, according to the American Gas Association (AGA).
The most recent addition surpassed the 6-year average by 23 percent and put
stocks well within the observed range for 1995-2000 (See
Storage Figure). Except for the West Region, the difference between
current stocks and the 6-year average is now less than 10 percent. Weekly
storage injection activity continues to set records in the 8-year history of
AGA data. The East, the only region not to establish a new record, added 64
Bcf, second only to 1995 when 86 Bcf was injected. (The stock estimate for the East Region has been adjusted
downward to reflect AGA's downward revision of 13 Bcf in the regional net
injections for last week.) The Producing and West regions exceeded their net
injection records by 8 and 15 percent respectively by adding 39 and 15 Bcf.
Even if net injections were to slow to average rates for the remainder of the refill
season, natural gas stocks entering the upcoming heating season would be higher
than 2 out of the last 5 years.
All Volumes
in BCF |
Current
Stocks (Fri, 5/18) |
Estimated
6-Year (1995-2000) Average |
Percent
Difference from 6 Year Average |
Net Change
from Last Week |
One-Week
Prior Stocks |
|
East Region |
680 |
736 |
-7.7% |
64 |
616 |
|
West Region |
200 |
230 |
-12.9% |
15 |
185 |
|
Producing Region |
407 |
443 |
-8.1% |
39 |
368 |
|
Total Lower 48 |
1,287 |
1,409 |
-8.6% |
118 |
1,169 |
|
Note: net change data are estimates published by AGA on Wednesday of each week. All stock-level Figures are EIA estimates based on EIA monthly survey data and weekly AGA net-change estimates. Column sums may differ from Totals because of independent rounding. |
||||||
Other Market Trends:
In late November of last
year, as gas prices pushed past $5.00 per MMBtu and climbed above $6, natural
gas became more expensive than crude oil and petroleum products, reversing the
long-time, typical price relationship between the two energy sources. This order reversal held for 5 months, but
in late April the spot price for gas at the Henry Hub fell below the equivalent
spot price for West Texas Intermediate crude oil, and has stayed below since
April 27. As of May 21, Natural Gas
Week quoted prices for natural gas at the New York citygate at $4.65 per MMBtu
and for No. 2 heating oil in New York harbor at $5.52, while a similar
comparison for the Gulf Coast had natural gas at $4.39 per MMBtu and No. 2 at
$5.37.
Summary:
The generally lower cash
prices in recent weeks contributed to a fourth consecutive week of
record-setting storage injections. Weather-driven demand in the West caused significant price jumps in the
region that proved to be short-lived by the end of the week. The near-month (June) futures contract has
fallen nearly $1.00 per MMBtu in 4 weeks and has settled at its lowest level
since last August.