Natural-Gas Prices Surge, and Winter Is Still Months Away

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: The Wall Street Journal.

MARKETS | COMMODITIES

Natural-Gas Prices Surge, and Winter Is Still Months Away

Low inventories around the world have made the heating fuel more expensive than it has been in years

By Ryan Dezember
https://twitter.com/RyanDezember
[e-mail]
Sept. 19, 2021 5:30 am ET

Natural-gas prices have surged, prompting worries about winter shortages and forecasts for the most expensive fuel since frackers flooded the market more than a decade ago.

U.S. natural-gas futures ended Friday at $5.105 per million British thermal units. They were about half that six months ago and have leapt 17% this month.

TO READ THE FULL STORY
SUBSCRIBE
SIGN IN

Read more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/natural-gas-prices-surge-and-winter-is-still-months-away-11631986861

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Fracking natural gas will only take you so far. Inventory is not guaranteed.

[overleft]

13. Create inflation then blame the democrats!

[paleotn]

2. Supply problems in Europe driving global NG prices.

Also driving electricity price spikes.

[OneCrazyDiamond]

6. And 41% of the imported gas comes from Russia.

Putin messing with us again?

[NickB79]

7. Europe's wind turbines have slowed dramatically in the past week

https://www.yahoo.com/now/europe-energy-crisis-worsens-wind-143000634.html

Energy prices in Europe have hit records due to a shortage of natural gas and much lower than expected wind power output, the Wall Street Journal has reported. Some countries have even been forced to restart coal power plants to ensure enough electricity reaches consumers.

The UK is suffering the most from the drop in wind power output, caused by mild weather. The country, which prides itself on its wind capacity and whose Prime Minister last year said wind farms could power every home by 2030, produced less than 1 GW of wind power on several days. This compares with a generation capacity of 24 GW, according to ICIS senior energy economist Stefan Konstantinov.

Gas prices, meanwhile, are running at record highs because of the asynchrony in demand—spurred by the reopening of EU economies after lockdowns—and supply, which has been constrained because the EU is not the only region where economies are reopening after lockdowns.

A freak wind lull has hammered their energy sector, and gas and coal are subbing in.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

12. More about that:

Mon Sep 13, 2021: Energy Prices in Europe Hit Records After Wind Stops Blowing

Natural gas and electricity markets were already surging in Europe when a fresh catalyst emerged: The wind in the stormy North Sea stopped blowing.

Link to tweet

MARKETS

Energy Prices in Europe Hit Records After Wind Stops Blowing

Heavy reliance on wind power, coupled with a shortage of natural gas, has led to a spike in energy prices

By Joe Wallace
[e-mail]
Sept. 13, 2021 6:17 am ET

Natural gas and electricity markets were already surging in Europe when a fresh catalyst emerged: The wind in the stormy North Sea stopped blowing.

The sudden slowdown in wind-driven electricity production off the coast of the U.K. in recent weeks whipsawed through regional energy markets. Gas and coal-fired electricity plants were called in to make up the shortfall from wind.

TO READ THE FULL STORY
SUBSCRIBE
SIGN IN

[Steelrolled]

14. I think about this every time we have a very hot day and the air is still.

We need nuclear, big time, until we figure out a better way. I still have hope we will come around.

[Slammer]

15. molten-salt thorium reactors

We've got the technology to have molten-salt thorium reactors right now.

Those don't have any possibility of meltdowns even if left completely unattended during some natural disaster.

They aren't cooled with water so during a disaster, they can't leak water into the water supply the power plant uses.

And they're operated at room pressure rather than 75-100 times atmospheric pressure like the traditional nuclear reactors so if there were some problem, it wouldn't spew stuff into the atmosphere.

Personally, I was very excited by Andrew Yang's presidential campaign because he promised to implement the technology if elected.

And later, I was disappointed that Biden didn't find some post for Yang, like Secretary of the Department of Energy. Yang and Biden seemed to get together really well on the campaign trail and at the debates so I'd hoped for some kind of working relationship between the two.

[NickB79]

17. China is going to fire one up soon

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02459-w

[Bengus81]

3. As big of a scam as the $150 per barrel oil when Bush.IDIOT was Pres

Get real,winters are warmer and warmer and warmer. Oh my...it got real COLD for 5-6 days last Feb for the first time here in Wichita in a decade or two. But....like they say NEVER let a good crisis go to waste. Hell...back in the 70's/80's and some of the 90's it was that cold EACH winter.

Now...the good people at the Gas Co. state we're going to get NAILED $600.00 per customer to pay for the ridiculous GOUGING that took place those few days last Feb. The price went up 32,000% or some such BS. So....we get to pay about $100 per day on top of the normal gas rate.

I am glad that the Wall St. boys are making out like BANDITS over this. That warms my heart.

[Farmer-Rick]

4. Prices always go up this time of year at least in TN

https://ycharts.com/indicators/tnnatural_gas_residential_price

Wait until February for the lowest price. But even November has a decline.

[INdemo]

5. Its a scam . What caused all these shortages?

Its like gasoline, if the Republicans that own the refineries want high gas prices they just have a fake refinery accident or just shut one down,then buy gas futures and when they feel like it the refinery opens back up and the investors buy short on the futures market.

Its the same in the same for natural gas and propane.

Notice where this article if from ..Murdock's WSJ

[yaesu]

8. Because of covids lasting effects to the economy I think another round of stimulus checks are needed

especially those on fixed incomes that are getting hit hard with living expense inflation

[NickB79]

9. We heat with wood, a heat pump, and propane

I'm going to have to call my firewood guy for another cord of oak, and check with our propane provider to see if I can lock in my price still.

Oh, and sweep my chimney (don't want a chimney fire).

[cadoman]

16. I thought I was diversified with gas and electric...

But that last winter showed the benefit of having a third option!

[Mawspam2]

10. Here in MN, farmers tend to wait until the first...

...crops come in before ordering gas for their hog and chicken barns and crop driers. It's a dumb thing to do as that is when prices are highest and deliveries are near impossible. Yet, it happens every year. Glad I'm retired and out of the business. Sitting at a terminal behind 30 other trucks blows chunks when you get paid by the load.

[NickB79]

11. Hopefully the upside to the drought will be dry corn and beans

And less need for dryers

[hunter]

18. If we had any fucking sense we'd leave ALL fossil fuels in the ground.

Natural gas is the most dangerous energy source on the planet.

There's more than enough to destroy the world as we know it.