The Energy Information Administration on Tuesday lower its 2023 worth forecast for U.S. pure fuel and mentioned it expects to see the bottom home first-quarter consumption of pure fuel in 5 years.
The authorities company estimates that about 99 billion cubic ft per day of pure fuel will probably be consumed within the U.S. through the first quarter of this 12 months. That can be the smallest quantity for any first quarter since 2018 — down 5% from the primary quarter of 2022, it mentioned.
It attributed the decline in consumption to “very mild temperatures that have reduced demand for space heating,” with the most important decline seen in residential and industrial consumption, which it expects will probably be 11% lower than within the first quarter of 2022, in response to the EIA’s Short-term Energy Outlook report launched Tuesday.
“A lot less natural gas was consumed in the U.S. residential and commercial sectors than we generally expect in January and February,” mentioned EIA Administrator Joe DeCarolis, in a press release. “The warmer weather in most of the country means homes and business haven’t been running their heating systems as much as they normally do during those months.”
He identified that natural-gas consumption in California has “not been following the identical development as the remainder of the nation, as colder-than-normal climate within the state led to extra natural-gas consumption.
The EIA mentioned U.S. natural-gas costs will possible common $3.02 per million British thermal items this 12 months, down 11.2% from the February forecast. For 2024, it decreased its forecast by 3.8% to $3.89.
For residential retail heating oil, together with taxes, the federal government company forecast a mean worth of $3.92 a gallon for this 12 months, down 3.7% from the earlier forecast, and for 2024, it lower its outlook by 0.2% to $3.61.
Global benchmark Brent oil costs, in the meantime, are anticipated to common $82.95 a gallon this 12 months – down 0.8% from final month’s forecast, the EIA mentioned. It additionally lowered its 2023 U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate oil-price forecast by 1% to $77.10 a gallon.
In Tuesday dealings, April natural-gas futures
NGJ23,
traded at $2.635 per million Btus, up 6.3 cents, or almost 2.5%.
April WTI oil
CLJ23,
CL.1,
fell $2.55, or 3.2%, to $77.91 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, whereas May Brent oil
BRNK23,
BRN00,
misplaced $2.42, or 2.8%, to $83.76 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.
Source web site: www.marketwatch.com
