As mentioned last month, we anticipated a volatile hurricane season, which was confirmed when Hurricane Beryl struck the Texas coast. The storm left three million Houston residents without power and damaged the Freeport Facility, resulting in a slight spike in natural gas prices.

Domestic Demand

Natural gas consumption rose by six percent or 4.4 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d), primarily due to warmer-than-normal temperatures across the country. Due to these high temperatures, natural gas consumption for power generation surged by 10 percent (4.3 Bcf/d) compared to the week of July 1st. In contrast, industrial sector consumption decreased slightly by 0.3 percent (0.1 Bcf/d), while residential and commercial consumption increased by 1.4 percent (0.1 Bcf/d).

International Demand  

On Monday, July 15th, Freeport, the Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) export facility in Texas, announced its intention to restart one of its liquefaction trains this week. The decision comes after the facility was shut down on July 7th in anticipation of Hurricane Beryl. Beryl, downgraded after hitting near Matagorda, approximately 50 miles from the facility, caused damage to the Freeport Facility while sparing other Gulf Coast export terminals from significant impact. Despite the plant's outage, global natural gas prices have remained stable, with European and Asian prices showing minimal movement over the past week.

Production & Supply  

For the week ending Tuesday, July 2, the natural gas rig count rose by four rigs to reach 101 rigs compared to the previous week. While the rig count remains 25.2 percent lower than last year, continued drilling efficiencies and a warmer-than-normal winter have helped the U.S. maintain a robust natural gas storage level at 3,199 Bcf. This storage level is 9.7 percent higher than the same period last year and exceeds the five-year average by 18.7 percent.