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Natural gas inventory as of January 15
Every Thursday, the EIA (US Energy Information Administration) publishes a natural gas inventory report for the previous week. This series will cover the latest report for the week ending January 15, 2015.
Throughout the year, natural gas is stored underground to save fuel for peak demand during the cold winter months. For the week ending January 15, natural gas inventory came in at 3,297 Bcf (billion cubic feet) compared to 3,475 Bcf one week earlier.
This inventory figure was higher than the 2,668 Bcf recorded last year. It was also higher than the five-year average of 2,824 Bcf. The drop of 178 Bcf in the underground natural gas inventory during the week ended January 15 was higher than the drop of 150 Bcf that analysts expected.
Why is the EIA report important?
Commodity prices are a function of supply and demand. If demand rises while supply remains constant, prices rise because more customers are chasing each unit of a commodity.
In contrast, if supply rises for a given level of demand, prices fall because the commodity is available in abundance. Inventory levels reflect supply and demand trends, and so they’re useful in getting a sense of natural gas prices.
The impact of natural gas inventory on coal
A lower-than-expected natural gas inventory indicates a lower-than-expected natural gas supply or higher-than-expected demand for natural gas. This generally helps natural gas prices. A rise in natural gas prices is positive for thermal coal producers because utilities (XLU) tend to burn more coal when natural gas prices rise.
However, the fall in natural gas prices over the past few months has hurt coal producers (KOL), especially those with operations in the US East and Midwest. Some of these companies are Alliance Resource Partners (ARLP), Natural Resources Partners (NRP), Arch Coal (ACIIQ), and Peabody Energy (BTU).
Now let’s take a look at what just happened with natural gas prices.
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