Aug 28 (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas futures jumped to a fresh nine-month high on Friday as the front-month rolled to a new more expensive contract and lots of production remained shut along the Gulf Coast from Hurricane Laura.
In addition, pipeline exports to Mexico climbed to a record high for a fourth day in a row and liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports started to edge up after dropping to an 18-month low earlier in the week when two LNG plants in Louisiana shut for Laura.
The remnants of Hurricane Laura, which smashed into the Gulf Coast as a major Category 4 storm early Thursday, are now over Arkansas. Energy firms along the Gulf Coast are assessing damage to their oil and gas infrastructure as they slowly return their pipes and plants to service. its first day as the front-month, gas futures NGc1 for the most active October contract remained unchanged at $2.707 per million British thermal units at 8:11 a.m. EDT (1211 GMT). But since October futures are trading much higher than where the September contract closed on Thursday, the front-month was up almost 5%, putting it on track for its highest settle since Nov. 8.
For the week, the front-month was up 10%. That puts the contract up for a fourth week in a row for the first time since May 2019, gaining a total of 50% over those four weeks.
On a daily basis, the amount of gas flowing to U.S. LNG export terminals was on track to rise on Friday for a second day in a row to 2.8 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd). On Wednesday, pipeline flows to the LNG plants fell to 2.3 bcfd, their lowest since February 2019, after Cheniere Energy Inc LNG.A and Cameron LNG shut their Louisiana plants. TRNLTTFMc1 output, meanwhile, was on track to drop to a three-month low of 85.3 bcfd on Friday as many wells in the Gulf remain shut for Laura, according to preliminary data from Refinitiv.
Week ended
Week ended
Year ago Five-year
Aug 28
Aug 21
Aug 28
average
(Forecast)
(Actual)
Aug 28
U.S. natgas storage (bcf):
+37
+45
+77
+66
Refinitiv Heating (HDD), Cooling (CDD) and Total (TDD) Degree Days
Two-Week Total Forecast
Current Day
Prior Day
Prior Year 10-Year
30-Year Norm
Norm
U.S. GFS HDDs
12
9
4
10
13 U.S. GFS CDDs
175
182
179
168
147 U.S. GFS TDDs
187
191
183
178
160
Refinitiv U.S. Weekly GFS Supply and Demand Forecasts
Prior Week
Current Week Next Week This Week
Five-Year
Last Year Average For
Month U.S. Supply (bcfd) U.S. Lower 48 Dry Production
88.6
86.5
86.0
92.7
79.1 U.S. Imports from Canada
6.6
7.1
7.1
7.7
8.0 U.S. LNG Imports
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.2 Total U.S. Supply
95.2
93.5
93.1
100.4
87.3
U.S. Demand (bcfd) U.S. Exports to Canada
2.0
1.8
1.9
3.1
2.2 U.S. Exports to Mexico
5.7
6.2
5.9
5.5
4.4 U.S. LNG Exports
4.7
3.8
3.2
6.5
2.0 U.S. Commercial
4.5
4.5
4.6
4.5
4.5 U.S. Residential
3.5
3.6
3.7
3.6
3.3 U.S. Power Plant
41.8
42.5
39.4
33.9
36.6 U.S. Industrial
21.6
21.5
21.5
21.5
20.6 U.S. Plant Fuel
4.4
4.3
4.2
4.3
4.3 U.S. Pipe Distribution
2.1
2.1
2.0
2.1
2.0 U.S. Vehicle Fuel
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1 Total U.S. Consumption
77.9
78.6
75.5
70.0
71.4 Total U.S. Demand
90.4
90.5
86.5
85.1
80.0
SNL U.S. Natural Gas Next-Day Prices ($ per mmBtu)
Hub
Current Day
Prior Day
Henry Hub NG-W-HH-SNL
2.52
2.52
Transco Z6 New York NG-CG-NY-SNL
1.62
2.00
PG&E Citygate NG-CG-PGE-SNL
3.56
3.49
Dominion South NG-PCN-APP-SNL
1.20
1.35
Chicago Citygate NG-CG-CH-SNL
2.28
2.33
Algonquin Citygate NG-CG-BS-SNL
1.35
1.51
SoCal Citygate NG-SCL-CGT-SNL
4.05
4.59
Waha Hub NG-WAH-WTX-SNL
1.07
1.25
SNL U.S. Power Next-Day Prices ($ per megawatt-hour)
Hub
Current Day
Prior Day
New England EL-PK-NPMS-SNL
23.00
23.00
PJM West EL-PK-PJMW-SNL
31.50
29.25
Ercot North EL-PK-ERTN-SNL
54.38
55.00
Mid C EL-PK-MIDC-SNL
20.75
23.00
Palo Verde EL-PK-PLVD-SNL
63.75
93.50
SP-15 EL-PK-SP15-SNL
64.75
85.25