Natural Gas Ascends with Weak Storage, High Crude Oil

For the past several weeks, California hubs have enjoyed natural gas prices that sat comfortably below $6.00/MMBtu while the rest of the country paid more than a dollar extra. This week, at least, the Western sale appeared on its way to ending, as weak storage figures and high crude oil prices—which pushed $58 a barrel—took their toll.

This week, Permian Basin natural gas was the priciest in the West. It went for a low of $6.23/MMBtu on Monday and hit $6.83/MMBtu the next day.

San Juan Basin natural gas traded at $5.48/MMBtu Tuesday before climbing to $6.00/MMBtu at the end of the week.

Southern California border gas traded between $6.09/MMBtu and $6.37/MMBtu and held steady throughout the week.

The US Department of Energy reported that an additional 73 Bcf went into storage last week in the Lower 48—putting reserves at 17.6 percent above the five-year average. An additional 12 Bcf went into Western storage, which stood at 301 Bcf

[C. R.].