The Platts pre-report analyst survey suggests US EIA data will show a 107- to 111 Bcf withdrawal in natural gas stocks
Washington - January 27, 2010
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) is expected Thursday to report a net withdrawal of 107 to 111 billion cubic feet (Bcf) from natural gas storage for the week that ended January 22, according to a Platts survey of analysts.
A drawdown within expectations would be well below the 184 Bcf withdrawal in the corresponding week of 2009 and the five-year-average pull of 178 Bcf, according to EIA. As a result, the 22 Bcf surplus over last year’s level will likely expand, while the five- ear-average deficit of 6 Bcf should shift back to a surplus.
Beyond the consensus, the wider range of analyst expectations spanned from withdrawals of 80 to 150 Bcf. Last week, EIA reported a 245 Bcf draw for the week ending January 15.
"The country is now enjoying a significant break in winter," said Kent Bayazitoglu, director of market analytics at Gelber & Associates. "As a result, expect to see a much smaller withdrawal for this week and
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This analyst survey is conducted by Platts’ editorial team in Washington DC and is published every Wednesday morning, one day ahead of the 10:30 am (EST) Thursday release of the weekly natural gas storage report of the US Energy Information Administration. Platts has been conducting this survey since January 2007. IMPORTANT NOTE TO EDITORS: The survey results attached above do not contain commentary from a Platts staff member. The survey is conducted and prepared by the Platts market news editors, but the views are those of non-Platts market analysts. The survey includes 15 to 25 analysts, some on a rotational basis. This differs from the weekly pre-report analyst survey of EIA/API US oil stocks data conducted each week by Platts Senior Oil Analyst Linda Rafield, which does include the views of Platts’ oil analyst Linda Rafield.
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