US natural gas prices climbed to $3.07 per million British thermal units, the highest level since July 8, after an EIA report showed a storage build broadly in line with market expectations. Energy firms injected 53 billion cubic feet into storage in the week ended September 18, compared with a 77 bcf increase in the same week a year earlier and a five-year average build of 76 bcf, as hot weather supported strong cooling demand.
Total inventories were 2.9% above the seasonal norm, narrowing from 3.7% the previous week. At the same time, US Lower 48 output was set to decline to an 11-week low of 108.4 bcfd on Thursday, driven mainly by production drops in Louisiana and West Virginia. Weather forecasts call for largely normal conditions through October 9.
On the export side, average gas flows to the nine major US LNG terminals rose to 17.8 bcfd in September, up from 17.2 bcfd in August, even with the planned outage of Berkshire Hathaway Energy’s 0.8-bcfd Cove Point facility for annual maintenance.
