The U.S. Energy Information Administration has revised its forecast for U.S. dry natural gas production and for Henry Hub prices this year.
U.S. dry natural gas production was forecast to rise to 73.69 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) in 2017 from 72.29 bcfd in 2016, according to the agency’s newest Short Term Energy Outlook (STEO) on Tuesday.
The latest output projection was higher than EIA’s 73.48-bcfd forecast in August despite disruptions in the U.S. energy market in recent weeks as a result of Hurricane Harvey.
Natural gas production in 2018 was forecast to be 4.4 Bcf/d higher than the 2017 level.
In August, the average Henry Hub natural gas spot price was $2.90 per million British thermal units (MMBtu), down 8 cents/MMBtu from the July level.
Expected growth in natural gas exports and domestic natural gas consumption in 2018 contribute to the forecast Henry Hub natural gas spot price rising from an annual average of $3.05/MMBtu in 2017 to $3.29/MMBtu in 2018, EIA said.
The 2017 estimate is down just 1 cent while the forecast for 2018 is the same as compared to forecasts in EIA’s July short-term outlook.