Hotter temps, lower prices to lift summer gas burns in Northeast, Southeast

摘要

Above-average summer temperatures along the US Eastern Seaboard and Southeast, combined with historically low gas prices there could drive upside risk for the regions' power burn levels over the coming months. In a forecast published Thursday, the US National Weather Service predicted a 33% to 40% chance for abnormally warm temperatures from July to September in states stretching from Maine to Florida. Warmer temperatures are also likely to prevail across much of the US Southeast including all or most of Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, the Weather Service said. With gas prices across the Northeast and Southeastern US currently hovering near multiyear lows, power burn levels in the two regions could be expected to hit new record highs later this summer. At Boston’s Algonquin city-gates hub, cash prices averaging just $2.14/MMBtu this month are down about 42 cents compared to the 2018 month-to-date average. At New York’s Transco Zone 6, prices are down more than 60 cents over the same period, averaging about $2.12/MMBtu so far in June. At key hubs across the Southeast, prices are about 55 cents to 60 cents lower this month compared to June 2018, averaging $2.33/MMBtu at Transco Zone 4 and $2.37/MMBtu at the Henry Hub, S&P Global Platts data shows.