for week ending September 21, 2011 | Release date: September 22, 2011 | Previous weeks
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Overview (For the Week Ending Wednesday, September 21, 2011) | |||||||||||
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More Summary Data | |||||||||||
Natural gas spot prices declined across the board this week, as mild fall temperatures reduced air conditioning demand. Most declines were in the double digits, and prices at many trading points fell more than 20 cents over the report week. Total consumption fell this week by 0.7 percent, according to data from BENTEK Energy Services LLC. While power burn dropped in response to cooler temperatures, these declines were partially offset by increases in demand by the other sectors.
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At the NYMEX, the price of the near-month (October) futures contract dropped from $4.039 per MMBtu last Wednesday to $3.73 per MMBtu yesterday. The 12-month strip (the average of the 12 futures contracts from October 2011 to September 2012) fell from $4.38 per MMBtu to $4.19 per MMBtu. The average of winter month contracts (November 2011 to March 2012) was $4.14 per MMBtu yesterday. |
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Working natural gas in storage rose to 3,201 Bcf as of Friday, September 16, according to EIA’s WNGSR (see Storage Figure). Following a net injection of 89 Bcf from the previous week, stocks are now 129 Bcf below last year and 35 Bcf less than the 5-year average. The injection was greater than the 5-year average injection of 72 Bcf and last year’s injection of 78 Bcf.
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National Petroleum Council Study Calls for “Prudent Development” of Energy Resources. The National Petroleum Council on September 15 released the results of an 18-month long study of North American natural gas and oil resources, involving more than 400 experts from various backgrounds, and completed at the request of U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu. The study, available on NPC’s website, reached four major conclusions: | |||||||||||
The natural gas resource base is much larger than thought even a few years ago. The NPC noted that domestic resources have the potential to meet the highest projections of demand included in the study. | |||||||||||
Among other recommendations, the NPC noted that policies should support prudent development of energy resources and improvements in efficiency. Additionally, the study noted that reducing carbon emissions further would prove difficult without a well designed mechanism imposing a price on greenhouse gas emissions. The study group was led by Anadarko Petroleum CEO James Hackett and included officials from energy companies, the U.S. government, and energy research groups.
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International Energy Outlook Shows China and India Leading the World in Energy Demand. EIA on September 19 released the International Energy Outlook 2011 (IEO2011), which includes projections for world energy markets through 2035. The IEO2011 projects worldwide energy consumption will grow by 53 percent between 2008 and 2035 in the baseline scenario, as developing nations, specifically India and China, drive growth. In 2035, the IEO2011 projects that China and India alone will account for about 31 percent of world energy use. Use of renewable energy is expected to grow quickly, increasing to 15 percent of total energy use at the end of the forecast period, but fossil fuels still remain dominant. The IEO2011 Reference case projects that the price of light sweet crude oil will reach $125 per barrel (in real 2009 dollars) by 2035, and oil consumption will continue to grow, with conventional and unconventional supplies increasing to meet demand. The increase in natural gas use is the most rapid of the fossil fuels, from 111 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) in 2008 to 169 Tcf in 2035. Unconventional natural gas supplies, including tight gas, shale gas, and coalbed methane, will increase substantially in the United States, Canada, and China. | |||||||||||
See Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report for additional Natural Gas Storage Data. |