The State of Natural Gas Markets

Superseding domestic weather, storage and production -- it’s global supply worries that are really penetrating the U.S. gas market and driving this price rally that we’ve seen take place over the past month. At the heart of the matter is that both Asia and Europe have been competing all summer long -- and into the fall -- for gas supply as they hustle to boost their natural gas storage inventories ahead of the winter season.

 

Today, European storage is only at about 75% of capacity, the lowest it’s been at this time of year in over a decade. Asia, meanwhile, is trying to avoid the shortage it experienced last winter and has been stockpiling gas ahead of colder weather. There are also production issues and coal shortages that have left both regions bracing for possible energy shortages in the months ahead.

 

A meteoric rise in global natural gas prices has resulted. In this episode of NGI’s Hub & Flow podcast NGI’s Price & Markets Editor Leticia Gonzales and Associate Editor Kevin Dobbs explain how all of this is driving the price of North American natural gas.