Kevin Dobbs joined the staff of NGI in April 2020. Prior to that, he worked as a financial reporter and editor for S&P Global Market Intelligence, covering financial companies and markets. Earlier in his career, he served as an enterprise reporter for the Des Moines Register. He has a bachelor's degree in English from South Dakota State University.
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Articles from Kevin Dobbs

Why Natural Gas Prices Keep Struggling Despite Triple-Digit Storage Pull
The heating season has arrived and utilities are drawing substantially more natural gas from storage to get furnaces cranking. But prices remain subdued. What gives? First and foremost: Natural gas production spiked about 4 Bcf/d this year and reached record levels above 106 Bcf/d in November. Output remains close to the all-time high in early…

Record Natural Gas Production, Plump Mountain Region Storage Suppress Rockies Prices
Natural gas production in the Rockies, like the country overall, is at vigorous levels this fall even as demand from western markets eases. The result: stout supplies in storage and soft prices. Mountain region inventories were 23.5% higher than the five-year average as of Nov. 24, the most recent storage update from the Energy Information…

OPEC-Plus Oil Cuts May Drive U.S. Associated Natural Gas Production Momentum, Dampen Prices
OPEC-plus, the consortium of major oil producers led by Saudi Arabia, agreed to a substantial production cut late last week that could bolster prices and fuel more demand for Permian Basin crude. This, by extension, could drive continued lofty levels of associated natural gas from the prolific basin. Associated gas, produced alongside oil, contributed to…

Weekly Natural Gas Spot Prices Slide as Demand Fades; Futures Fizzle Amid Lofty Production
Natural gas cash prices spiked early in the past week amid a blast of frigid air. But milder temperatures settled in during the weekly trading period and strong production pushed the physical market into negative territory. NGI’s Weekly Spot Gas National Avg. for the Nov. 30-Dec. 1 period shed 10.5 cents to $2.745. Conditions during…

Canadian Natural Gas Storage in Stout State, Leaving Abundant Supplies to Flow into U.S.
Interruptions imposed by western wildfires last summer aside, natural gas production in Canada has often averaged around 18 Bcf/d or higher in 2023. That’s roughly 1 Bcf/d more than the 2022 standard, according to Canada Energy Regulator data, and it comes at a time when demand has largely held flat amid mild weather. The result:…

Highly Active 2023 Hurricane Season Fails to Impact Natural Gas Production, Prices
Record-warm ocean surface temperatures fueled above-average activity during the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season. Still, the storms steered clear of the U.S. energy complex and made no lasting impact on natural gas production or prices. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said in a report this week that 20 official storms emerged in the Atlantic…

Natural Gas Rig Counts Stabilize and Production Powers Up, Pointing to ‘Massive’ Oversupply into 2024
The combination of relatively soft weather-driven demand and record production put the U.S. natural gas market on a path to price-pressuring oversupply well into 2024, a growing chorus of analysts cautioned in November. “We are bearish on U.S. natural gas,” Goldman Sachs Group’s Samantha Dart said bluntly. First things first: U.S. production reached record levels…

Despite Subdued Prices, Haynesville Natural Gas Producers Ramp Up Activity in November
Counter to rig count trends over much of 2023, natural gas production in the Haynesville Shale proved robust through the first half of November and could continue to help drive strong overall output, according to East Daley Analytics. Pipeline flows in Louisiana and East Texas averaged 13.2 Bcf/d through Nov. 16, marking a 300 MMcf/d…

Despite Robust Supplies, Baseload Prices Kick Off December Natural Gas Bidweek Trading With Positive Momentum
Natural gas prices trended mostly higher during the first day of December bidweek trading on Wednesday even as production hovered near record levels, supplies in storage remained robust and weather-driven demand proved seasonally soft. NGI’s Bidweek Alert (BWA) showed upward momentum across several regions, with traders focused more on the winter ahead than the current…

Micro Henry Hub Natural Gas Futures Trading Takes Off Amid Global Supply, Price Volatility
CME Group, the derivatives marketplace that operates New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) Henry Hub natural gas futures, said its new micro trading platform for gas got off to a strong start this month. Micro Henry Hub futures launched Nov. 6 and, in the initial days, surpassed 50,000 contracts. These are one-tenth the size of the…