POLL-US natgas stocks seen down 82 bcf in weekly E POLL-US natgas stocks seen down 82 bcf in weekly EIAs
5 minutes ago by Thomson Reuters
* Withdrawal estimates range from 67 bcf to 98 bcf
* Median draw in Reuters poll also 82 bcf
NEW YORK, Jan 4 (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas inventories are expected to have fallen by 82 billion cubic feet last week, a Reuters poll of industry traders and analysts showed on Wednesday.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration will release gas storage data for the week ended Dec. 30 on Thursday at 10:30 a.m. EST (1530 GMT), its usual day and time despite the recent Christmas and New Year's holidays.
Eighteen participants took part in the Reuters poll, with withdrawal estimates ranging from 67 bcf to 98 bcf.
Storage fell an adjusted 135 bcf for the same week in 2010, while the five-year average decline for that week is 106 bcf.
The median draw in the survey was also 82 bcf.
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said there were 158 heating degree days last week, one fewer than the previous week, 44 fewer than normal and 47 fewer than the same week of the previous year.
Degree days, a measure of departure in the mean daily temperature from 65 degrees Fahrenheit (18 Celsius), are used to estimate demand to heat or cool homes and businesses. They are often weighted to reflect population differences in specific states and regions.
In last week's report, for the week ended Dec. 23, overall storage fell 81 bcf to 3.548 trillion cubic feet, below Reuters poll estimates for an 86-bcf draw, and well short of the year-earlier drop of 143 bcf and the five-year average draw for that week of 122 bcf.
Stocks hit an all-time high of 3.852 tcf in mid-November, marking the third straight year in which inventories headed into winter at record highs.
(Storage graphic: https://link.reuters.com/mup44s)
The weekly draw widened the inventory surplus relative to the year before to 297 bcf, or more than 9 percent. It also added to the excess to the five-year average, raising the total to 428 bcf, or nearly 14 percent.
Eastern storage fell 53 bcf in the last report, while Consuming Region West storage fell 19 bcf for the week and inventories in the Producing Region shed 9 bcf.
In the last four reports, total stocks lost 303 bcf, or 76 bcf per week, versus a 557-bcf adjusted draw for the same one-month period a year earlier and a 470-bcf five-year average decline for that period.
NOAA said it expected 175 heating degree days this week, still 31 fewer than normal and 25 fewer than the same year-ago week.
Early withdrawal estimates for next week's EIA report range from 89 bcf to 107 bcf versus a year-ago decline of 138 bcf.
After a mild November that showed an unexpected net injection of about 27 bcf for the month, some traders said concerns were growing that even a harsh January and February may not be enough to burn up excess supplies.
High gas output this year could add 400 bcf to total winter supply and make it difficult to trim stocks to normal levels by the end of March, even though average heating-season burns run 45 percent, or 25 bcf per day, higher than during summer.
High inventories at the end of the heating season could put gas prices - which hit more than two-year lows under $3 per mmBtu this week - on the defensive again next year.