Natural gas storage in the U.S.’s Lower 48 states increased by 70 billion cubic feet (Bcf) for the week ending April 24, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said last Thursday.
According to the official estimates, the net injections into storage are lower than the five-year average of 74 Bcf and last year’s net injections of 114 Bcf during the same week, Kallanish Energy reports.
Working natural gas stocks have totaled 2,210 Bcf, which is 360 Bcf, or 19.5%, more than the five-year average and 783 Bcm, or 54.9%, more than last year at this time, the EIA said.
The estimates are close to the expected weekly gas stock changes, with surveys pointing to levels between 64 Bcf and 82 Bcf for the week. Underground storage facilities in the South Central region hold most stocks at 979 Bcf – a weekly increase of 38 Bcf and over half of the total storage build.
The number of natural gas rigs operating in the U.S. fell by 4 to 85 on April 21, the lowest since August 2016, according to Baker Hughes data. As of that date, there were 38 fewer (31%) active natural gas rigs than at the beginning of 2020 and 101 fewer (54%) than the same period last year.
Natural gas-directed rigs remained concentrated in the Marcellus Basin in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, as well as in the Haynesville Basin in Louisiana and Texas.
According to the EIA, these two basins accounted for half of the decline in natural gas-directed rigs over the past year. Around 78% of the remaining operating natural gas-directed rigs in the U.S. are located in these basins.
