NG:
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Bloomberg Energy
Sat, 29 Apr 2000, 7:06pm EDT
04/28/00 16:38 Natural Gas Rises on Concern for Summer Supply Shortfall
By Josh P. Hamilton
New York, April 28 (Bloomberg) -- Natural gas jumped almost 3
percent, rising close to a two-year high, as signs of low U.S.
production rates reinforced concern that supply will lag demand in
the summer months.
After the warmest winter on record, U.S. inventories for the
nation's primary home-heating fuel still are 25 percent below year-
ago levels, the American Gas Association reported Wednesday. The
low inventories have caused speculation that utilities will be
actively bidding for gas to generate electricity when summer air
conditioning demand kicks in.
``Production numbers are off, and demand is expected to
continue to ratchet up,'' said George Ellis, a trader at Paribas
Futures in New York.
Natural gas for June delivery rose 8.6 cents, or 2.8 percent,
to $3.141 per million British thermal units on the New York
Mercantile Exchange, just shy of $3.158 on April 17, the highest
closing price since November 1997.
Oklahoma, the third-biggest gas producing state after Texas
and Louisiana, saw output fall last year to its lowest rate since
1933, and production is continuing a six-year slide this year, the
trade publication Gas Daily reported yesterday, citing the
Oklahoma Corporation Commission.
``It's very telling that storage was able to be drawn down
when we had this very, very mild winter,'' Ellis said. If the gas
wasn't consumed for heating with this mild winter, it went to
power generation, he said. And most utility demand won't be felt
in the market until the summer.
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quote.bloomberg.com
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No George, it was the warmest winter in 105 years. So if the NG went to power generation will there even be a "shoulder season"? God help us if we get just a mild winter.
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gasandoil.com
US winter of 1999-2000 was the warmest in 105 years
10-03-00 The winter of 1999-2000 was the warmest winter in the United States since the government began keeping records 105 years ago, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said. This marked the third year in a row that record warmth was recorded in the United States during the winter months. Since 1980 more than two-thirds of US winters have been warmer than average, NOAA said.
The average US temperature from December to February was 38.4 degrees Fahrenheit, six-tenths of a degree warmer than the previous record set last year. "During the past winter, every state in the continental United States was warmer than its long-term average, with 21 states from California to the Midwest ranked as much above average," NOAA said in a statement. It was also the 16th driest on record, NOAA said.
The government blamed the warmer temperatures and lack of moisture on the La Nina weather phenomenon. During a La Nina period, sea surface temperatures are cooled, leading to lower rainfall in parts of theworld, including in the United States. La Nina also shifts the location of the jet stream, raising temperatures across the United States. The latest La Nina period began in mid-1998 and scientists predict it will continue well into 2000.
NOAA also said global warming, which most scientists believe is caused by human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels like coal and gas, was partly to blame for the temperature spike.
Source: Reuters |
