The Energy Information Administration (EIA) said that higher spot natural gas prices in western Canada weighed on US imports of natural gas from the country by pipeline. US imports of Canadian natural gas are estimated to have fallen to 6.2 Bcfd in April and 6.3 Bcfd in May.
The fall was partly caused by natural gas spot prices at the NOVA/AECO-C (AECO) trading hub in Alberta, Canada, that have been in the similar range with spot prices at the US natural gas benchmark Henry Hub. This is compared to a period between mid-2017 and October 2019, when AECO natural gas spot prices were typically $1/MMBtu to $2/MMBtu lower than the Henry Hub pricing.
In its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook, EIA projects that US imports of natural gas via pipeline would drop from 7.4 Bcfd last year to 7.0 Bcfd this year, the lowest since the mid-1990s. Pipeline gas imports are then expected to increase to 7.9 Bcfd next year. Canadian gas accounts for 99% of US natural gas imports by pipeline.
