U.S. Stores Near Record Natural Gas During Refill Season: EIA

The amount of natural gas held in storage in 2019 went from a relatively low value of 1,155 billion cubic feet at the beginning of April to 3,724 billion cubic feet at the end of October because of near-record injection activity during the natural gas injection, or refill, season, which goes from April 1 to October 31, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The spring season tends to be one of the weakest times of the year for natural gas demand. Temperate weather conditions lead to suppliers pouring natural gas into storage facilities and pipelines around the United States in preparation for winter. As of October 31, inventories were 37 billion cubic feet higher than the previous five-year end-of-October average, according to interpolated values in the agency’s Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report.

From April 1 through October 31, 2019, more than 2,569 billion cubic feet of natural gas was placed into storage in the Lower 48 states. This volume was the second-highest net injected volume for the injection season, falling short of the record 2,727 billion cubic feet injected during the 2014 injection season. In that year, a particularly cold winter left natural gas inventories in the Lower 48 states at 837 billion cubic feet, the lowest level for that time of year since 2003.