A high demand for power generation and production slowdown have kept summertime natural gas storage injections below the 5-year average, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported July 24.

Several natural gas producers curtailed production when Henry Hub prices fell beneath $2/MMbtu in February. However, overall U.S. production has remained flat for the year, at about 3.15 Tcf/m.

Since April, natural gas storage injections in the Lower 48 states totaled 950 Bcf, according to the EIA’s weekly report on July 18. The summer injection season is from April to the end of October. So far, the amount injected into storage has been 166 Bcf, or 15%, less than the average injection during the same time period from 2019 to 2023.

Gas storage levels remain high, thanks to record production levels in 2023 and a warmer-than-typical winter. Since February 2024, overall storage levels have exceeded the benchmarks set over the prior five years. On July 12, the last date for the EIA’s report, the total amount in U.S. storage was 3.21 Tcf, 17% above the 5-year average.

 The primary difference for storage injections is natural gas consumption, which jumped by 3% in the second quarter of 2024, driven primarily by the need for power generation. The start of summer 2024 faced hot temperatures and cheap natural gas prices, making the commodity more appealing to utilities.

Another factor may have been a drop in the amount of wind energy available to the grid. Weather conditions in 2023 led to a decline in the amount of wind-generated electricity available for the first time since the 1990s, the EIA reported in April.

The same conditions may have continued into 2024. Reuters reported on July 24 that U.S. wind-produced power had fallen to a 33-month low.

EIA natural gas injections graphic
(Source: Energy Information Administration)
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