Market Highlights:

Natural gas storage                          

Net injections into storage totaled 53 Bcf for the week ending September 18, compared with the five-year (2021–2025) average net injections of 76 Bcf and last year’s net injections of 77 Bcf during the same week. Working natural gas stocks totaled 3,351 Bcf as of Friday, September 18, 2026, according to EIA estimates. Stocks were 95 Bcf (3%) more than the five-year average and 146 Bcf (4%) lower than last year at this time. Below average injections in recent weeks have narrowed the surplus to its smallest percentage since late March. Weekly net injections for the Lower 48 states trailed the five-year average for the sixth week in a row. The average rate of injections into storage is 2% higher than the five-year average so far in the refill season (April through October). Matching the five-year average pace of 11.6 Bcf/d for the remainder of the season would bring inventories to 3,848 Bcf on October 31, leaving stocks 95 Bcf above the five-year average for that date.

Natural gas prices

The Henry Hub natural gas price increased by $0.05/MMBtu, rising from $3.01/MMBtu last Wednesday to $3.06/MMBtu yesterday, bringing the month-to-date average to $2.89/MMBtu, or $0.07/MMBtu lower than last September’s average. Driven by a 7°F decrease in average daily U.S. temperatures that curbed cooling demand and elevated heating demand (Criterion Research), total U.S. natural gas consumption fell 2.4 Bcf/d (2%) per S&P Global Energy. The decline was led by a 2.7 Bcf/d (6%) drop in power sector demand and a 0.8 Bcf/d (4%) decrease in LNG feedgas deliveries, which outweighed a 1.0 Bcf/d (12%) increase in residential and commercial demand. Total natural gas supply remained largely unchanged (shifting by less than 1%) week over week, as a 0.4 Bcf/d (less than 1%) decrease in dry natural gas production was offset by a 0.4 Bcf/d (8%) rise in net Canadian imports, according to S&P Global Energy.

Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)

For the week ending September 23: The LNG-carrying capacity of vessels departing U.S. ports was 124 Bcf, down 14 Bcf from the previous week. Thirty-three LNG vessels left U.S. ports, down three vessels from the previous week. Eight vessels departed from Sabine Pass; seven from Plaquemines; six from Corpus Christi; three each from Cameron and Freeport; and two each from Calcasieu Pass, Cove Point, and Elba Island.