Lower 48 natural gas storage operators deposited a net 84 Bcf into inventories during the week to Aug. 30, above the five-year-average build of 66 Bcf, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported.
The injection, which surpassed the 75-Bcf forecast by an S&P Global Platts analyst survey, brought total working gas supply to 2,941 Bcf, or 383 Bcf above the year-ago level and 82 Bcf below the five-year average.
By region:
* In the East, stockpiles grew 32 Bcf on the week at 714 Bcf, 9% higher than the year before.
* In the Midwest, stockpiles were up 37 Bcf at 827 Bcf, 19% higher than a year ago.
* In the Mountain region, storage levels rose 4 Bcf at 177 Bcf, 10% above the year-ago level.
* In the Pacific region, inventories fell 2 Bcf at 276 Bcf, 13% more than the year before.
* In the South Central region, stockpiles rose 13 Bcf at 947 Bcf, 19% above a year earlier.
Of that total, 197 Bcf of gas was in salt cavern facilities and 749 Bcf was non-salt-cavern. Working gas stocks dropped 1% in salt cavern facilities from the previous week and gained 1.8% in non-salt-cavern facilities.
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