The CME/NYMEX September Henry Hub natural gas contract closed the week at $2.54/MMBtu, down a penny from a week earlier, despite the most bullish storage report in months from the EIA Thursday.

U.S. production has reached its highest level since the pandemic crash in 2020, with Lower-48 supply just 200 Mb/d short of the peak of 12.6 MMb/d in March 2020. It is intriguing to observe the continuous increase in production despite the decline in rig count that averaged a fall of three rigs per week so far in 2023.

Crude oil exports from the U.S. Gulf Coast posted the largest gain in nine weeks, rising by 521 Mb/d as terminals collectively loaded over 4.1 MMb/d in the week ended August 18 as per the weekly Crude Voyager report.

Natural Gas midstream behemoth, Kinder Morgan has issued a Force Majeure notice following a fire at its Centerville, TN compressor station. The company has said all the facility's workers are accounted for and no serious injuries were sustained.

Overall feedgas last week averaged 11.63 Bcf/d, flat week-on-week, with small changes across all terminals. Overall feedgas remains lackluster amid low seasonal demand (feedgas levels are typically lower in the summer) and pipeline maintenance.