A climb in residential and commercial gas use drove total U.S. natural gas consumption higher in the week that ended Oct. 17, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its Oct. 18 "Natural Gas Weekly Update."
Total U.S. gas consumption jumped to an average of 67.8 Bcf/d for the report week, compared with the 63.7 Bcf/d average of the previous week, the EIA reported. The increase was mainly driven by a 73% climb in residential and commercial gas consumption for the week, averaging 20.4 Bcf/d compared to the previous report week's average of 11.8 Bcf/d, amid the lower overall temperatures across the United States.
Gas consumption for power generation offset the huge jump in residential and commercial gas use, dropping by 18% compared to the previous report week due to the lower demand in cooling. Gas demand from power generation hit 25.4 Bcf/d for the week, compared to 31.0 Bcf/d the previous week. Industrial gas consumption saw a small increase week over week, averaging 22.1 Bcf/d compared to last week's 21.0 Bcf/d average.
Five LNG vessels with a combined carrying capacity of 16.9 Bcf left the U.S. from Oct. 11 through Oct. 17. All of the tankers left from Cheniere Energy Inc.'s Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana. One LNG tanker with a carrying capacity of 3.5 Bcf was loading at Sabine Pass on Oct. 10. Average daily pipeline deliveries to LNG export terminals for the week increased by about 500 MMcf/d, averaging 3.2 Bcf/d, according to the EIA.
Dominion Energy Inc.'s Cove Point terminal in Maryland resumed receiving gas feedstock deliveries by pipeline on Oct. 12 after a return to operation following a scheduled outage for maintenance and inspection activities.
U.S. gas supply slightly fell for the week, averaging 90.0 Bcf/d compared to 90.8 Bcf/d in the previous week. Average net imports from Canada also slipped compared to the previous week, averaging 4.4 Bcf/d from Oct. 11 to Oct. 17.
Net storage injections for the week ending Oct. 12 totaled 81 Bcf, which was higher than the 55 Bcf of net injections in the same week last year. Working gas stocks totaled 3,037 Bcf, which was about 605 Bcf below the five-year average and 601 Bcf below the level for the same period in 2017.