The Platts pre-report analyst survey suggests US EIA data will show a 14- to 18-Bcf addition in natural gas stocks for the latest reporting week
Washington - March 31, 2010
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) is expected Thursday to report a net injection of 14 to 18 billion cubic feet (Bcf) to natural gas storage for the week that ended March 26, according to a Platts survey of analysts.
A report within expectations would compare with no net change in the same week of 2009 and a five-year average withdrawal of 27 Bcf, according to EIA. As a result, the 28-Bcf deficit to last year should narrow, while the 121-Bcf surplus over the five-year average should expand.
Beyond the consensus, the wider range of analyst expectations for the latest week spanned from a drawdown of 5 Bcf to a build of 23 Bcf.
Kent Bayazitoglu, director of market analytics at Gelber & Associates, predicted that "for the next few weeks, injections will grow in size. If the mild weather patterns hold true to forecasts, expect to see a very large injection on April 15 that will rival the April injection record of 82 Bcf. By early May, storage could return to record levels."
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This analyst survey is conducted by Platts’ editorial team in Washington DC and is published every Wednesday morning, one day ahead of the 10:30 am (EST) Thursday release of the weekly natural gas storage report of the US Energy Information Administration. Platts has been conducting this survey since January 2007. IMPORTANT NOTE TO EDITORS: The survey results attached above do not contain commentary from a Platts staff member. The survey is conducted and prepared by the Platts market news editors, but the views are those of non-Platts market analysts. The survey includes 15 to 25 analysts, some on a rotational basis. This differs from the weekly pre-report analyst survey of EIA/API US oil stocks data conducted each week by Platts Senior Oil Analyst Linda Rafield, which does include the views of Platts’ oil analyst Linda Rafield.
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