Rebounding offshore gas production, weaker demand reverse Henry Hub cash rally

摘要

Henry Hub cash prices were down sharply Aug. 31 as offshore and Gulf Coast gas production previously shuttered by Hurricane Laura continued to come back online, pressuring the regional supplydemand balance. In intraday trading, the benchmark price tumbled over 20 cents to $2.25/MMBtu. On Aug. 24, as Laura, a massive Category 4 storm, ravaged the Louisiana Gulf Coast, a precipitous drop in offshore gas production lifted prices to their highest in nine months at $2.52/ MMBtu, S&P Global Platts data shows. The recent downturn, which started Aug. 28, reverses a monthlong trend of steady price gains that lifted the Henry Hub cash market from its sub-$2 doldrums, where it has hovered for most of 2020. Downward pressure on prices accompanies recent gains in US offshore production.