Infrastructure issues had kept a lid on storage injections as U.S. network operators have been struggling to balance high levels of domestic production and a sharp drop in demand due to lockdowns to contain the coronavirus.
Debottlenecking in the South Central storage region, as of late, helped increase storage injections to levels not seen over the past five years.
South Central net injections of 48 Bcf last week were the third biggest volume of gas put into storage in the five regions ever reported by EIA over the past decade. Weekly net injections of natural gas have equaled or exceeded 100 Bcf a total of 36 times since 2010; and EIA figures show that 16 of those occasions occurred during the month of May.
Net injections into storage tend to be high in May because of the availability of free working gas capacity and reduced, shoulder season load levels.
High inventories in winter 2019/20
Continued rise in U.S. gas production, combined with limited demand due to unseasonably mild winter weather, has left gas storage on relatively high levels during the past winter.
The average daily natural gas supply for the Lower 48 states grew about 6 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) over the winter 2019/20, while average daily demand from industry, the power sector and net exports to Mexico and LNG feedstock) was up about 3 Bcf/d, according to IHS Markit data.
The EIA’s report on natural gas working stocks through mid-April 2020 shows that inventories are already at least one-half full in the Lower 48, South Central Nonsalt, South Central Salt, and the Pacific storage regions.