Inventories are expected to reach an eight-year high at the end of October

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports that natural gas inventories in the United States will reach 3,954 billion cubic feet (Bcf) by the end of October. This is the largest amount of natural gas in U.S. storage since November 2016.

“We forecast below-average cumulative injection volumes for the remainder of the injection season (through October) as inventories were relatively well-filled in March and we expect above-average U.S. natural gas consumption and relatively flat natural gas production this summer,” the EIA said in a statement.

With a slower inventory build, the difference between U.S. natural gas inventories and their previous five-year average will gradually narrow, from 39 percent above the average in March to 6 percent above the average in October. Storage injections will be at or near five-year minimums in all regions of the United States for the remainder of the injection season, the EIA reported.

At the end of March 2024, the time of year when natural gas inventories are often at their lowest, natural gas inventories in the United States were relatively well-stocked. Since then, net injections into active U.S. natural gas storage facilities totaled 1,004 Bcf through the end of July, 17% less than the March-July average over the past five years (2019-23).