US spot gas prices top $7 mark in May, with YOY gains led by Northeast region

The average price of natural gas for day-ahead delivery greatly increased year over year in all U.S. regions in May, with the Northeast experiencing the largest increase at 209.05%.

Average gas prices also rose from the prior month for all regions, with the Gulf Coast leading at 23.31% to an average of $7.837/MMBtu, the highest average among all regions.

The West recorded a 21.25% increase month over month to an average of $7.486/MMBtu, the lowest average of all the regions. The Midcontinent's spot gas price index rose 22.18% from April to May, ending up at an average of $7.647/MMBtu.

The West saw the smallest yearly gain among all the regions at 170.09%. Month over month, the Northeast reported the smallest gain among all regions at 20.16% to $7.580/MMBtu.

Northeast gas hubs

All gas hubs in the Northeast posted triple-digit year-over-year gains ranging from 179.11% to as high as 291.92% in May.

All of the hubs recorded spot gas price indexes that ended above the $7.00/MMBtu mark. The Tennessee at Dracut hub reported the highest index at $8.185/MMBtu, despite having the lowest increase among the Northeast gas hubs year over year.

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Supply-side forecast

On the supply side, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its monthly "Drilling Productivity Report" released May 16 that it expected all the shale gas-producing regions in the country except the Anadarko Basin to increase production in June compared to the prior month.

Gas production in Appalachia, the largest shale gas-producing region in the U.S., was expected to increase from 35.48 Bcf/d in May to 35.67 Bcf/d in June. The Haynesville region was forecast to grow production from about 14.86 Bcf/d in May to 15.10 Bcf/d in June. The EIA projected total U.S. shale gas production to climb from 91 Bcf/d in May to 91.75 Bcf/d in June.

Market prices and included industry data are current as of the time of publication and are subject to change. For more detailed market data, including power and natural gas index prices as well as forwards and futures, visit our Commodities pages.

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