The US Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) in its February Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) forecast that the working natural gas stocks in the Lower 48 states will reach a record high by the end of this winter heating season, which lasts from November 1 to March 31.
According to the outlook, milder winter this season will create smaller withdrawals from natural gas from storage. Withdrawals from working natural gas storage this winter heating season are estimated to reach a total of 1,790 Bcf by the end of March 2020. This will be the smallest withdrawals during a heating season since the winter of 2015-2016.
As a result, total working natural gas stocks are expected to fall from 3,725 Bcf on October 31 to 1,935 Bcf by the end of March, 12% higher than the five-year average. In the outlook, EIA also predicts that total working natural gas in storage will be higher than the five-year average for the rest of 2020.
