Both the consumption and supply of natural gas in the U.S. inched higher by 1% during the week ended July 31, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported in its Aug. 1 "Natural Gas Weekly Update."

Gas use during the last week of the month clocked in at 69.1 Bcf/d, up from 68.5 Bcf/d in the prior report week, according to the EIA. The increase was mainly driven by a rise in consumption by the industrial sector to 21.3 Bcf/d from 20.4 Bcf/d a week earlier.

Consumption by the power sector, however, dropped to 40.3 Bcf/d from 40.5 Bcf/d in the previous week. Residential and commercial use was flat at 7.6 Bcf/d.

Total U.S. demand — including Mexico exports, pipeline fuel use or losses, and LNG pipeline receipts — rose week over week to 86.4 Bcf/d from 85.7 Bcf/d.

U.S. LNG exports climbed week over week as 11 LNG vessels carrying a total of 39 Bcf left the U.S. between July 25 and July 31, the EIA reported, citing shipping data compiled by Bloomberg. Ten LNG tankers with a total of 37 Bcf departed the country in the prior week.

The 11 vessels included six that came from Cheniere Energy Inc.'s Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana and three from the company's Corpus Christi terminal in Texas. The remaining two left from Dominion Energy Inc.'s Cove Point terminal in Maryland.

Kinder Morgan Inc. recently filed a request with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to introduce hazardous fluids to the second LNG train at its Elba Island LNG facility in Georgia. The pipeline giant's Gulf LNG export project in Mississippi, on the other hand, secured approval from the U.S. Department of Energy to export LNG to countries that do not have a free trade agreement with the U.S.

FERC also recently authorized a first LNG train to start commercial service at the Sempra Energy-led Cameron LNG LLC export facility in Louisiana.

Gas supply edged up week over week to 95.6 Bcf/d from 94.7 Bcf/d. Both marketed and dry gas production increased, totaling 101.2 Bcf/d and 90.5 Bcf/d, respectively, compared to 100.1 Bcf/d and 89.5 Bcf/d a week ago. Average net imports from Canada slipped to 5.0 Bcf/d from 5.1 Bcf/d.

Net injections into storage for the week ended July 26 were 65 Bcf, an increase from the five-year average of 37 Bcf and net injections of 31 Bcf recorded during the same week in 2018. Working gas stocks were 2,634 Bcf, 123 Bcf lower than the five-year average, but 334 Bcf higher than the same week a year earlier.