For the week (Wednesday to Wednesday), the spot price at the Henry Hub decreased 33 cents, or about 4.5 percent, to $7.07 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) in part due to a decline in cooling demand across much of the Lower 48 States. The Henry Hub price was $1.05, or 17 percent, above last year's level of $6.02.
The amount of natural gas in storage in the East Region increased 6.1% for the week ending June 24 to 1,091 billion cubic feet which was 97 billion cubic feet above the 5-year average.
In the nation, net injections into working gas storage during the first 12 weeks of the build season have averaged nearly 73 billion cubic feet, almost 6 percent more than the 5-year average of 69 billion cubic feet. Working gas stocks would be close to 3,400 billion cubic feet by the start of the heating season if net injections into working gas through the remainder of the build season continue at the average rate. Close to 3 trillion cubic feet is generally considered to be adequate for winter demand. Nebraska is a part of the East Region (see map) which is a major natural gas consumer, particularly in the residential and commercial sectors. The industrial sector, which includes agriculture, is also a major consumer in this state. Most of the gas is supplied from the Producing Region with a fair amount imported from Canada. The Henry Hub in southern Louisiana is a major market center with interconnections for many of the pipelines that transport U.S.-produced gas to the East Region. Furthermore, the Henry Hub is the preferred reference point for prices for most of the domestic gas destined for the East. Therefore, market conditions and developments in the East Region and price movements and trends at the Henry Hub are usually highly correlated.Notes: An archive is available. Divide the price by ten (10) to obtain the price per hundred cubic feet (ccf) or the approximate price per therm.
