Natural gas demand in the U.S. held steady in the week ended May 30 as supply increased slightly, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its May 31 "Natural Gas Weekly Update."
Residential and commercial gas use dropped by 19%, or about 1.7 Bcf/d, compared with the previous report, the EIA said, citing PointLogic Energy data. Natural gas consumption for power generation increased by 7% as high temperatures in the South and Midwest areas increased electricity demand. Industrial-sector consumption fell by 1% after holding steady for the past three weeks.
Natural gas exports to Mexico averaged 4.4 Bcf/d during the review period, climbing by 100 MMcf/d compared to the previous week. LNG export pipeline receipts for the report week held steady, still averaging 2.8 Bcf/d, the EIA said.
Four LNG vessels, with a combined carrying capacity of 14.4 Bcf, left the United States from May 24 to May 30. All of the tankers left from Cheniere Energy Inc.'s Sabine Pass in Louisiana. One tanker at Dominion Energy Inc.'s Cove Point in Maryland, with a carrying capacity of 3.3 Bcf, was loading on May 30. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission recently allowed Cheniere to introduce gas to a fifth natural gas liquefaction train at the Sabine Pass and to start the commissioning process.
U.S. natural gas supply averaged 86.6 Bcf/d. Average net imports from Canada increased about 100 MMcf/d from the previous week, averaging 6.4 Bcf/d from May 24 to May 30.
Net storage injections for the week ended May 25 increased to a total of 96 Bcf. Working gas stocks totaled 1,725 Bcf, about 500 Bcf below the five-year average and 788 Bcf below the same period in 2017.
