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Pipeline Restrictions Pummel Emerson Natural Gas, Send Prices Below Zero
Key insights on the natural gas market provided by NGI’s price and data analysts
- After peaking at more than $5.000/MMBtu in February, summer maintenance events on Great Lakes Gas Transmission LP have pummeled spot gas prices at Emerson, NGI daily price data show. Emerson averaged at negative 4.5 cents on Wednesday after trading in a range from negative 10.0 cents to 5.0 cents. Prices also traded as low as negative 10.0 cents on Tuesday.
- The low prices come as Great Lakes on Tuesday indicated it experienced an “unexpected and uncontrollable equipment failure” at the Thief River Compressor Station (CS) on Unit #201 that constituted a force majeure. This led to no additional volumes being scheduled through the Emerson CS eastbound as of Tuesday’s intraday cycles, according to Wood Mackenzie. Flow was to be restricted to 1.037 Bcf/d from Wednesday to August 7, representing a cut of about 364,000 MMBtu/d.
[Canada Is Exporting: Join NGI’s LNG editors for a discussion on the market implications of Canada’s entry into large-scale LNG exports, following LNG Canada’s first cargo setting sail in June. Since then, Canadian natural gas prices have lagged Lower 48 prices. When could that change? Find out more on NGI’s Hub & Flow.]