After Russia, the U.S. is the world’s largest exporter of natural gas. Now with (justified) fears of ongoing supplier disruption from Russia and increased shortages globally, the U.S. underground storage inventory of natural gas is low, especially as exports have grown to meet demand. Are we headed into a global natural gas shortage this winter? Meanwhile, Israel seizes the opportunity to export natural gas to Europe by negotiating an agreement with Egypt. These and other not-to-be-missed energy news updates below.
"Israel will take full advantage of the opportunity in Europe's energy market presented by European sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine"
Karin Elharrar, Energy Minister
Azi Feifel
COO PROSPECT RESOURCES
Trends in the Energy Market
Prompt month natural gas continues its decline. July NYMEX futures have fallen to a five-week-low, off nearly $2.00/MMbtu since last week. A commodities and equities sell-off, along with the shutdown of the Freeport LNG export terminal pushed natural gas below $7 for the first time in more than a month.
The Freeport LNG facility shutdown has moved about 2.5% of annual US production back into domestic use.
June continues to be record-hot in Texas. Temperatures will average 99 degrees over the coming week in Houston. Daily high temperatures in Dallas with average over 100 degrees this week.
The Midwest is heating up again after a cool-down, The East Coast will see lower than average temps in the near term.
Texas forward electricity prices are down from their highs. In the Midwest prices are up slightly.
There is concern over electricity capacity throughout the MISO region. This could result in rolling outages during high demand periods.
Trending Energy Topics
What is driving up gas prices?
Believe it or not, the sky-high gas prices in the U.S. are still not nearly as high as what Asia and Europe are seeing. But the increasing rate of export of liquid natural gas (LNG) from the U.S. is depleting U.S. inventories despite increased drilling. Expect our gas prices to start to converge with those abroad. Read more
Recent explosion at plant puts us on the brink of global winter LNG shortage
A recent fire at Freeport LNG, one of the world’s biggest liquid natural gas (LNG) suppliers threatens Europe's fragile energy security. Freeport LNG confirmed it will be shutting its doors for at least three months on June 9th. The cause of the fire on Quintana Island remains under investigation, but this leaves Europe with fewer options as it struggles to find alternatives within reach. Read more
Israel & Egypt negotiate gas exports to Europe
Energy Minister Karin Elharrar told the Jerusalem Post last month that Israel “will take full advantage” of the opportunity in Europe's energy market presented by European sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. An agreement has been reached between Israel and Egypt to export gas across their borders to Europe, which would be quite lucrative considering how expensive Russian fuel sources have become. Read more
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The case study demonstrates how active energy procurement helped PRI achieve this instead of relying on long-term energy contracts that can leave lots of market risk for property managers.
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Did you know?
You may know that natural gas is a potent energy source, but did you know it’s been harnessed in America since the 1600s? Native Americans near Lake Erie would burn it for light and heat as early as 1626.
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