BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 19. In the US, storage facilities commenced the 2023 injection season at 43 percent capacity, which was nearly 20 percent higher (8 bcm) than their five-year average, Trend reports.
According to the estimations of the International Energy Agency (IEA), the strong growth in domestic gas production provided essential support for above-average net injections in the second quarter of 2023, exceeding their five-year average by 7 percent (2 bcm) and totaling 29 bcm.
However, as the agency noted, the deceleration in production growth, coupled with robust gas-to-power demand and increasing LNG exports, contributed to a reduction in storage injections during the third quarter of the current year.
These injections were 25 percent below their five-year average, amounting to 5.5 bcm, and reached a total of 16 bcm, the report said.
Despite the slower injection rate, inventory levels still remained 5 percent above their five-year average by the end of September, with a fill level of 81 percent, helping to maintain a US storage surplus, the IEA added.
