Refinery Demand Continues Rebound; Up 1 MMb/d in March

U.S natural gas storage inventories ended the winter heating season at a record high for this time of year of 2,480 Bcf as of April 1, 2016. Yesterday (Thursday April 14) the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that U.S. natural gas storage fell a notch as of April 8 to 2,477 Bcf or 956 Bcf (63%) higher than the corresponding week last year. CME/NYMEX Henry Hub natural gas futures prices for May delivery closed at $1.970/MMBtu yesterday, 56 cents lower than last year at this time. Moreover the current 12-month strip is averaging $2.48, 32 cents lower than last year at this time. In today’s blog, we look at how inventories got here and implications for the summer market.

The famous Field of Dreams misquote “If you build it, they will come” certainly has proved true for the midstream companies that added a record 18.7 MMbbl of crude oil storage capacity in PADD 2 in late 2015 and early 2016. During that six-month period, crude inventories in PADD 2 blasted 24.4 MMbbl higher to a record 155.6 MMbbl. And while PADD 2 oil stockpiles have been shrinking somewhat in recent weeks, they remain above 150 MMbbl—a mark the PADD had never seen before this year. Storage levels have been particularly high at the Cushing, OK storage and distribution hub within PADD 2. Why is so much crude being socked away?  Today, we continue our look at the new storage capacity being added in the U.S., and at why demand for storage has been so high.

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