NEO_99
Forumer storico
Natural gas futures declined for the first time in five days as forecasts for normal winter weather next week signaled that U.S. stockpiles are adequate to meet winter heating demand.
Gas dropped from its highest price in five months as temperatures will be in a normal range in the U.S. Northeast from Jan. 10 to Jan. 14, according to the National Weather Service. Inventories on Dec. 24 were 8.2 percent above the five- year average, according to the Energy Department.
“We are seeing cold weather tapering off a little bit, and it takes a little edge off people’s worry that it will be a long, cold winter,” said Carl Larry, president of Oil Outlooks & Opinions LLC in Houston. “We still have high storage numbers.”
Natural gas for February delivery fell 16.6 cents, or 3.6 percent, to $4.503 per million British thermal units at 12:31 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The futures have dropped 20 percent from a year ago. Gas yesterday settled at its highest price since Aug. 4.
The Energy Department may report tomorrow that 132 billion cubic feet of gas were withdrawn from storage for the week ended Dec. 31, according to the median of 16 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The five-year average decline for the week is 79 billion.
Stockpile Outlook
Gas inventories may reach 1.833 trillion cubic feet at the end of the winter heating season on March 31, about 171 billion higher than last year, the Energy Department said Dec. 7 in its Short-Term Energy Outlook.
“High gas storage is going to be with us for a while and it’s going to be bearish for gas prices,” said James Williams, an economist at WTRG Economics, an energy research firm in London, Arkansas.
New York will have a high of 35 degrees Fahrenheit (2 Celsius) on Jan. 12, 3 degrees below normal, according to AccuWeather Inc. in State College, Pennsylvania. Boston will have a high of 32 degrees.
About 52 percent of U.S. households use natural gas for heating, according to the Energy Department.
Tudor Pickering Holt & Co. LLC cut its estimate for 2011 natural gas prices because of high production.
The company reduced its forecast for gas traded at the benchmark Henry Hub in Erath, Louisiana, to $4 per thousand cubic feet from $5, David Pursell, a managing director at the Houston-based company, said in a note to clients today.
Unless gas prices fall to $4, sparking demand for the fuel in power plants as an alternative to coal, gas stockpiles may rise to 4.2 trillion cubic feet next fall, above current storage capacity of about 4 trillion, Pursell said.
Rising production of gas from shale formations has pushed up inventories and dented the impact of cold weather.
Shale-gas output rose 47 percent to 3.11 trillion cubic feet in 2009 from a year earlier, according to Energy Department figures. Shale-based supplies accounted for 14 percent of total marketed gas production in 2009, compared with 10 percent in 2008 and 6.4 percent in 2007.
Gas dropped from its highest price in five months as temperatures will be in a normal range in the U.S. Northeast from Jan. 10 to Jan. 14, according to the National Weather Service. Inventories on Dec. 24 were 8.2 percent above the five- year average, according to the Energy Department.
“We are seeing cold weather tapering off a little bit, and it takes a little edge off people’s worry that it will be a long, cold winter,” said Carl Larry, president of Oil Outlooks & Opinions LLC in Houston. “We still have high storage numbers.”
Natural gas for February delivery fell 16.6 cents, or 3.6 percent, to $4.503 per million British thermal units at 12:31 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The futures have dropped 20 percent from a year ago. Gas yesterday settled at its highest price since Aug. 4.
The Energy Department may report tomorrow that 132 billion cubic feet of gas were withdrawn from storage for the week ended Dec. 31, according to the median of 16 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The five-year average decline for the week is 79 billion.
Stockpile Outlook
Gas inventories may reach 1.833 trillion cubic feet at the end of the winter heating season on March 31, about 171 billion higher than last year, the Energy Department said Dec. 7 in its Short-Term Energy Outlook.
“High gas storage is going to be with us for a while and it’s going to be bearish for gas prices,” said James Williams, an economist at WTRG Economics, an energy research firm in London, Arkansas.
New York will have a high of 35 degrees Fahrenheit (2 Celsius) on Jan. 12, 3 degrees below normal, according to AccuWeather Inc. in State College, Pennsylvania. Boston will have a high of 32 degrees.
About 52 percent of U.S. households use natural gas for heating, according to the Energy Department.
Tudor Pickering Holt & Co. LLC cut its estimate for 2011 natural gas prices because of high production.
The company reduced its forecast for gas traded at the benchmark Henry Hub in Erath, Louisiana, to $4 per thousand cubic feet from $5, David Pursell, a managing director at the Houston-based company, said in a note to clients today.
Unless gas prices fall to $4, sparking demand for the fuel in power plants as an alternative to coal, gas stockpiles may rise to 4.2 trillion cubic feet next fall, above current storage capacity of about 4 trillion, Pursell said.
Rising production of gas from shale formations has pushed up inventories and dented the impact of cold weather.
Shale-gas output rose 47 percent to 3.11 trillion cubic feet in 2009 from a year earlier, according to Energy Department figures. Shale-based supplies accounted for 14 percent of total marketed gas production in 2009, compared with 10 percent in 2008 and 6.4 percent in 2007.
