The Platts pre-report analyst survey suggests US EIA data will show a 29- to 33-Bcf addition in natural gas stocks for the latest reporting week
Washington - April 7, 2010
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) is expected Thursday to report a net injection of 29 to 33 billion cubic feet (Bcf) to natural gas storage for the week that ended April 2, according to a Platts survey of analysts.
A build within expectations would be larger than the 17-Bcf injection during the same week last year and the five-year-average injection of 11 Bcf. As a result, the 16-Bcf deficit to last year is expected to shrink, while the 160-Bcf surplus over the five-year average should expand.
Beyond the consensus, the wider range of analyst expectations for the week that ended Friday spanned from builds of 20 Bcf to 37 Bcf.
FirstEnergy Capital analyst Martin King, who projected a net build of 31 Bcf, noted that March turned out to be "astonishingly mild" across most of the U.S., which reduced gas demand and freed up gas for storage before the traditional start of the injection season April 1.
"Taking into account our latest weekly forecast, March...could see a very low cumulative withdrawal of less than 50 Bcf," he said.
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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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