Thanks to near-record injection activity during the natural gas injection season (Apr. 1–Oct. 31), the amount of gas held in storage this year went from a relatively low value of 1,155 bcf at the beginning of April to 3,724 bcf at the end of October, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
Inventories as of Oct. 31 were 37 bcf higher than the previous 5-year end-of-October average, according to EIA’s Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report.
Working gas stocks ended the previous heating season at 1,155 bcf on Mar. 31—the second-lowest level for that time of year since 2004.
The 2019 injection season included several weeks with relatively high injections: weekly changes exceeded 100 bcf nine times during the year. Certain weeks in April, June, and September were the highest weekly net injections in those months since at least 2010.
From Apr. 1 through Oct. 31, more than 2,569 bcf of gas was placed into storage in the Lower 48 states. This volume was the second-highest net injected volume for the injection season, falling short of the record 2,727 bcf injected during the 2014 season. In 2014, a particularly cold winter left gas inventories in the Lower 48 at 837 bcf—the lowest level for that time of year since 2003.
