Will US Natural Gas Consumption Rise in 2018?

PointLogic estimates that weekly US natural gas consumption rose 11.3% to 57.9 Bcf per day on September 14–20, 2017. Consumption rose 2% from the same period in 2016. The increase was led by the residential and commercial sector and power sector’s natural gas consumption.

A rise in natural gas consumption will have a positive impact on natural gas (GASL) (BOIL) (DGAZ) prices. Higher natural gas prices have a positive impact on natural gas producers’ (RYE) (VDE) earnings like Cabot Oil & Gas (COG), WPX Energy (WPX), and Gulfport Energy (GPOR).

For details on the monthly US natural gas consumption, read US Natural Gas Consumption Reached a 25-Month Low.

Weekly natural gas exports to Mexico fell 2.4% to 4 Bcf per day on September 14–20, 2017. The natural gas exports fell 2.4% from the same period in 2016.

US natural gas consumption averaged 74.7 Bcf per day in 2015 and 75.1 Bcf per day in 2016.

The EIA (U.S. Energy Information Administration) estimates that US natural gas consumption will average 72.6 Bcf per day in 2017 and 75.8 Bcf per day in 2018.

According to the EIA’s estimates, US natural gas production could surpass consumption in 2017 and 2018. It would pressure natural gas (UNG) (GASL) prices. However, booming US natural gas exports could limit the impact of the excess supply.

In the next part of this series, we’ll take a look at some natural gas price forecasts.