Permian, Appalachia prices fall in last week
The US Energy Information Administration reported March 17 that prices for gas flows from the Appalachia and Permian production regions had dipped over the previous week.
The Appalachia spot price (Tennessee Zone 4 Marcellus band) fell $0.34 to $3.72/mn Btu from March 9 to March 16, while the Waha Hub near Permian Basin activity in West Texas dipped $0.60 to $3.65/mn Btu.
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Waha Hub's price point was $1.02 below the Henry Hub price of $4.67/mn Btu on March 16, with the latter rising from $4.56/mn Btu on March 9, with prices at major US hubs ranging from a low of $3.88/mn Btu in New York to $5.14/mn Btu at California's PG&E City Gate, according to Natural Gas Intelligence.
The supply to demand fundamentals tightened. Daily gas supplies in the US fell by 0.9% to 0.9bn ft3/day on the previous week, according to data from PointLogic, while demand rose by 3.2% to 2.7bn ft3/d. Consumption was particularly strong in the residential and commercial sectors as US temperatures drifted below spring time averages. In these sectors, there was a 6.4% rise in purchase quantities.
Storage net withdrawals have thus climbed higher, in both year-on-year terms and against five-year averages. The net withdrawal rate of 79bn ft3 for the week ending March 11 compared with 65bn ft3 from 2017 to end-2021 and just 16bn ft3 in the comparable week of last year.
The natural gas rig count climbed by 5 to 135 rigs in the week ending March 8, as the Haynesville shale region added two rigs, the Utica shale added a single rig, and another two rigs arrived at unspecified locations, according to Baker Hughes.
But LNG exports in the world's top exporter of liquefied gas were lower by one vessel. The EIA says 22 vessels with a combined liquefied gas capacity of 82bn ft3 departed key US departure points from March 10 to March 16: from Sabine Pass (9), Cameron (4), Corpus Christi (4), Freeport (4) and Cove Point (1).
Last year, average US LNG exports rose 50% year/year to a new high of 9.7bn ft3/day, with Asian cargoes up 51% at 1.5bn ft3 and Europe's share climbing 32% to 3.3bn ft3/day