In its weekly release yesterday, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a bigger-than-expected 69 billion cubic feet (Bcf) addition to natural gas stockpiles for the week ended October 2. This takes the current storage level to a new record high of 3.66 trillion cubic feet (Tcf), which is up 14.9% from last year's level and 15.1% above the five-year range (as clear from the nearby chart from the EIA). Current stocks are 473 Bcf above last year’s level and 480 Bcf above the five-year average. The inventory addition was lower than the five-year-average injection of 70 Bcf and last year's build of 87 Bcf.     The relentless increase in gas storage levels has meant that with four weeks remaining in the storage injection season, stockpiles are already 94% full. At this pace, by October 31, which is the end of the injection season, ...

Yesterday, one of the largest onshore contract drillers in the U.S., Patterson-UTI Energy Inc. (PTEN), declared its Sep 2009 drill rig count to average 81, up from 72 in the previous month. The company operated 77 rigs in the U.S. and 4 in Canada in September, compared to 69 rigs in the U.S. and 3 rigs in Canada during August.  Patterson’s activity levels in the U.S. peaked in early Oct 2008, with a rig count of 275. Since then, the company has been witnessing a steep and rapid decline on the back of decreased demand largely caused by lower commodity prices for natural gas.  Favorable prices over the last few years led to increased natural gas drilling, with the total onshore rig count scoring an all-time high in 2008. As a result, after remaining essentially flat for almost 9 years (1998−2006), natural gas production went up ...

Yesterday, we received a mildly positive report from the federal government’s Energy Information Administration (EIA), showing a less-than-expected rise in natural gas supplies. Stockpiles held in underground storage in the lower 48 states rose by 66 billion cubic feet (Bcf) for the week ended September 11. This takes the current storage level to 3.46 trillion cubic feet (Tcf), which is up 16.7% from last year's level and 16.4% above the five-year range (as clear from the nearby chart from the EIA). Current stocks are 496 Bcf above last year’s level and 487 Bcf above the five-year average. The inventory addition was lower than the five-year-average injection of 82 Bcf but slightly exceeded last year's build of 65 Bcf.     Overall, the relentless increase in gas storage levels continue to add to the long list of issues weighing on the commodity. At this pace, ...