The Energy Information Administration reported a 67 billion cubic foot injection into US underground gas storage for the week ending October 9, taking working gas to 3,567 billion cubic feet. The build was below analyst expectations clustered in the mid 70s and well under the five year average build of about 90 billion cubic feet for the week, leaving stocks 45 billion cubic feet, or 1.3 percent, above the five year average and 143 billion cubic feet, or 3.9 percent, below year ago levels.
The surplus has been shrinking for five weeks, from 148 billion cubic feet above the five year average in early September, as LNG export demand and hurricane related supply disruptions pulled on stocks. Regional detail is split: the South Central region, which serves Gulf Coast LNG terminals, sits below its five year average while the East, Midwest, Mountain and Pacific regions are above theirs.
Prices ignored the tighter print on Friday. Henry Hub futures fell 3.71 percent to 3.12 dollars per million Btu in the site market tables, extending a weekly decline of 3.23 percent, as forecasts for mild weather through late October outweighed the storage signal. A short cold snap this weekend is expected to trim the next build before milder conditions return, leaving the market balanced between a tightening stock cushion and a soft near term demand outlook.