Falling crude oil prices, ample natural gas storage inventories, and moderate temperatures pressed spot prices downward this week. On September 20, the Henry Hub natural gas spot price was $4.87 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), which was 54 cents or ten percent less than the price of $5.41 last Wednesday. This Wednesday's price of $4.87 was 66 percent lower than the price of $14.25 per mmBtu on the third Wednesday in September, 2005. This Wednesday's price even dropped below the price from two years ago.
The amount of natural gas in storage in the East Region increased three percent to 1,835 billion cubic feet for the week ending September 15, which was 188 billion cubic feet above the five-year average. 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.
Day | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Note: NA = Not available. | ||||||||||||
1 | $8.71 | $6.62 | $6.54 | $6.24 | $8.67 | $5.25 | NA | NA | ||||
2 | Holiday | $8.00 | $6.69 | $6.68 | $6.23 | $8.65 | NA | NA | ||||
3 | $9.91 | $8.01 | $6.59 | $7.05 | $6.56 | Holiday | $7.61 | NA | NA | |||
4 | $9.25 | $7.02 | $6.46 | Holiday | $7.44 | Holiday | NA | NA | ||||
5 | $9.23 | $6.88 | $6.80 | $6.41 | $5.71 | $5.46 | NA | NA | ||||
6 | $9.28 | $8.26 | $6.49 | $7.05 | $6.16 | $5.28 | $5.73 | NA | NA | NA | ||
7 | $7.73 | $6.53 | $6.80 | $5.82 | $5.18 | $6.98 | $5.64 | NA | NA | |||
8 | $7.88 | $6.48 | $6.54 | $5.85 | $7.06 | $5.32 | NA | NA | ||||
9 | $8.80 | $7.56 | $6.31 | $6.56 | $6.10 | $7.59 | NA | NA | ||||
10 | $8.60 | $7.56 | $6.40 | $6.83 | $6.50 | $5.32 | $7.95 | NA | NA | |||
11 | $8.55 | $6.99 | $6.81 | $5.52 | $7.54 | $5.29 | NA | NA | ||||
12 | $8.70 | $6.79 | $6.35 | $6.02 | $5.65 | $5.57 | NA | NA | ||||
13 | $8.53 | $7.36 | $6.76 | $6.67 | $5.95 | $5.93 | $5.41 | NA | NA | NA | ||
14 | $7.03 | $7.14 | Holiday | $6.09 | $6.28 | $6.89 | $5.08 | NA | NA | |||
15 | $7.31 | $7.10 | $5.92 | $6.43 | $6.90 | $4.40 | NA | NA | ||||
16 | Holiday | $7.16 | $7.12 | $5.99 | $7.04 | $7.02 | NA | NA | ||||
17 | $8.81 | $7.38 | $7.17 | $7.22 | $6.16 | $6.27 | $6.73 | NA | NA | |||
18 | $8.85 | $7.61 | $5.78 | $6.02 | $6.67 | $5.03 | NA | NA | ||||
19 | $8.21 | $7.72 | $5.77 | $6.71 | $5.89 | $4.98 | NA | NA | ||||
20 | $8.78 | Holiday | $7.00 | $7.96 | $6.62 | $6.15 | $4.87 | NA | NA | NA | ||
21 | $7.40 | $6.83 | $7.64 | $6.50 | $5.90 | $6.71 | NA | NA | NA | |||
22 | $7.54 | $7.07 | $5.90 | $6.51 | $6.86 | NA | NA | NA | ||||
23 | $8.29 | $7.23 | $7.16 | $6.27 | $6.14 | $7.19 | NA | NA | ||||
24 | $8.25 | $7.40 | $7.43 | $7.73 | $6.01 | $6.33 | $7.21 | NA | NA | |||
25 | $8.50 | $7.37 | $5.86 | $6.78 | $7.49 | NA | NA | NA | ||||
26 | $7.85 | $7.18 | $5.78 | $5.89 | $6.71 | NA | NA | NA | ||||
27 | $8.18 | $6.97 | $7.06 | $6.93 | $5.97 | $7.03 | NA | NA | NA | NA | ||
28 | $6.68 | $7.15 | $6.65 | $6.04 | $7.25 | $6.50 | NA | NA | NA | |||
29 | $7.16 | Holiday | $6.09 | $6.24 | NA | NA | NA | |||||
30 | $8.35 | $7.18 | $6.21 | $5.83 | $6.40 | NA | NA | |||||
31 | $8.73 | $6.98 | $5.97 | $8.05 | $5.82 | NA |
Sources: Natural Gas Weekly Update. Energy Information Administration, Washington, DC. Nebraska Energy Office, Lincoln, NE.
This report was updated on September 21, 2006.
Typically, there is one week between updates.