Natural Gas At $200/MMBTU? -- Apparently -- RBN Energy -- March 5, 2019

Updates

May 30, 2019: #35093 (see below) reports a record IP.

Original Post

One we missed yesterday, from The Mercury News:

Sunday also featured a coldest low of minus-44 degrees in Montana and a warmest high of 88 in Florida. That made for a remarkable 132 degree temperature difference across the Lower 48.

The National Weather Service office in Great Falls reported that Lewiston, in central Montana, set an all-time record for March and this late in the winter with a low of minus-34 degrees, toppling the previous mark of minus-28 on multiple dates. Great Falls had low of minus-32 degrees which was a tie for the coldest temperature in March there, last done on the 10th in 1932.

If those absurdly frigid temperatures were not enough, wind chills were pushed even lower. A truly bonkers wind chill of minus-57 was recorded in north-central parts of the state at Havre.

Stories to come back to later:

• future of high-speed rail in the US; includes a video of an Amtrak train for millennials who may have never seen an Amtrak train which figures big in the Green Nude Eel; another high-speed train debacle;
• COP, over at SeekingAlpha, maybe
• US light vehicle sales fell to 18-month low
• 1Q19 GDP growth still seen at 0.3%
• a non-story: US to sell up to 6 million bbls from SPR
• China cuts economic growth target
• frigid across the "heartland"
• GAAP vs non-GAAP, updated March 4, 2019, over at Investopedia; 

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Back to the Bakken
Wells coming off the confidential list today -- Tuesday, March 5, 2019: 21 wells for the month; 21 wells for the quarter --

• 35093, 10626, Hess, AN-Bohmbach-153-94-2734H-8, 35 stages, 10 million lbs, Antelope-Sanish, t4/19; cum 68K after 24 days; 
• 34731, 2,223, CLR, Pasadena 7X-11H,  Banks, 46 stages; 9.1 million lbs, t11/18; cum 100K 1/19; the Pasadena wells are tracked here;
  
• 34511, 1,573, Nine Point Energy, Fritz 150-101-32-29-13H, Pronghorn, 60 stages; 10 million lbs, t9/18; cum 90K 1/19;
• 33089, 1,098, CLR, Sakakawea Federal 4-19H, Elm Tree, t2/19; cum 13K over 16 days; the Sakakawea Federal wells are tracked here;
  

Active rigs:

$56.78	3/5/2019	03/05/2018	03/05/2017	03/05/2016	03/05/2015
Active Rigs	68	61	45	35

RBN Energy: Sumas gas prices set US record as Arctic blast descents.

Natural gas spot prices at Sumas, WA, on Friday went as high as $200/MMBtu, a record price not only for the Pacific Northwest spot gas market, but for the U.S.

That level surpassed even the highest price seen in the premium Northeast market in the pre-Shale Era. Other Western prices also rose Friday but not to anywhere near Sumas, with intraday highs at the other hubs mostly staying below $10/MMBtu.

This is just the latest instance of turmoil in the Pacific Northwest gas market since last fall, when a rupture on Enbridge’s Westcoast Energy/BC Pipeline system (on October 9) disrupted Canadian gas exports to Washington State at the Sumas border crossing point.

Ongoing testing on the Westcoast system and the resulting capacity reductions for deliveries to Sumas, along with reduced deliverability at the region’s largest storage facility, Jackson Prairie, over the past month have made the Pacific Northwest more of a demand “island” than ever, especially as those issues coincide with this week’s polar-vortex weather.

Sumas prices for today’s flows re-entered the stratosphere, averaging just under $16/MMBtu, but remained the highest price in the country. Today, we review the market conditions contributing to the sky-high prices.

Archived.