Author Topic: U.S. natural gas demand is at a record – and prices keep dropping  (Read 1051 times)

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Offline thackney

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U.S. natural gas demand is at a record – and prices keep dropping
https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/u-s-natural-gas-demand-is-at-a-record-and-prices-keep-dropping/

U.S. natural gas demand is at an all-time high and expected to keep rising – and yet, prices are falling.

U.S. gas futures this week collapsed to a three-year low, while spot prices were on track to post their weakest summer in over 20 years. In other markets, such lackluster pricing would cause investment to retrench and supply to contract.

But gas production is at a record high and expected to keep growing. Demand is rising as power generators shut coal plants and burn more gas for electricity and as rapidly expanding liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals turn more of the fuel into super-cooled liquid for export.

Analysts believe the natural gas market is not trading on demand fundamentals because supply growth continues to far outpace rising consumption. Energy firms are pulling record amounts of oil from shale formations and with that oil comes associated gas that needs either to be shipped or burned off.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, gas futures NGc1 this week dropped to $2.03 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), the lowest since May 2016. For the summer, spot gas prices at the Henry Hub NG-W-HH-SNL benchmark in Louisiana were on track to fall to their lowest since 1998.

Gas speculators last week boosted their net short positions to the highest on record, according to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

“All the bulls are gone,” said Kyle Cooper, consultant at ION Energy in Houston.

The market is expecting a big boost in gas output this fall after Kinder Morgan Inc’s (KMI.N) Gulf Coast Express pipeline comes online in September and releases some of the gas currently stranded and being burned in the Permian....
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Offline IsailedawayfromFR

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Abundant, cheap energy is always the bellwether for a prosperous economy.

Look for a whole plethora of industries taking advantage of this.
No punishment, in my opinion, is too great, for the man who can build his greatness upon his country's ruin~  George Washington