Natural gas inventories follow a predictable pattern during the year, rising during the late spring through the early fall as producers inject gas into storage before the onset of winter.
During the latest week, natural gas inventories fell 89 billion cubic feet (bcf) to 3,725, according to the Energy Information Administration. That puts stockpiles at 57 bcf less than last year at this time and 332 bcf above the 5-year average of 3,393 bcf.
As the chart by the EIA reveals, supplies are more than ample heading into the winter heating season, which has kept prices relatively low.
Last year’s colder-than-normal winter did help to absorb some of the excess supply but fears that a surge in natural gas production would result in new surpluses of gas helped to prevent a big spike in prices.
Similar concerns will probably restraint any outsized rise in price if temperatures in much of the country remain well below normal.
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