Summer officially began on Sunday, signaling the beginning of what is usually a moderate gas demand season in the region, contrasting with the light demand of spring. We will have to wait some time for gas demand to truly pick up to summer highs, as Northeast demand slackened over the past week. The lower gas-for-power-demand coincided with higher Appalachian production, leading to lower cash basis prices in the producing region. Demand for gas was particularly low over the weekend. Because of the Juneteenth holiday, cash trading for the four days from Friday through Monday was completed on Thursday morning, so low prices during that trading day determined four-sevenths of the average weekly price.
Source: RBN NATGAS Appalachia, Wood Mackenzie
Overall Northeast demand averaged 16.2 Bcf/d, down 1.8 Bcf/d week-on-week. Regional demand, excluding LNG feedgas, (represented by the dark purple line in the chart above) was 15.4 Bcf/d, which was 1.5 Bcf/d lower than last year but equal to the 5-year average. Power demand fell by 1.3 Bcf/d, while Res/Comm and Industrial demand each declined by 0.2 Bcf/d. LNG feedgas at Cove Point was 0.8 Bcf/d, similar to the prior week. The “Other S&D” balancing item decreased by 0.4 Bcf/d week-on-week and production was up 0.6 Bcf/d so the total Northeast gas balance loosened by 2.1 Bcf/d.
