AGA to drop weekly gas storage report, asks EIA to issue data

The American Gas Association said Friday it will discontinue its weekly report on working natural gas effective Jan. 2 and urged the US Energy Information Administration to issue more timely data instead. AGA explained the report was taking too much staff effort.

Oct. 12, 2001

2 min read

By the OGJ Online Staff

WASHINGTON, DC, Oct. 12 -- The American Gas Association said Friday it will discontinue its weekly report on working natural gas effective Jan. 2.

It urged the US Energy Information Administration to collect and issue similar data on a timely basis.

Roger Cooper, executive vice-president for policy and planning, said, "AGA is discontinuing the survey primarily because it was taking increasingly more staff time and effort to calculate and post the survey estimates. This drained resources committed to other programs more beneficial to its members."

Cooper said AGA would ask EIA to consider publishing gas storage data on a more timely basis than the monthly storage estimates that it now collects. Cooper also said EIA should simplify its data collection process.

He said, "AGA's weekly storage estimates have closely tracked EIA's numbers over the past 7 years. AGA estimates are currently issued 3 working days after the weekly reporting period ends while EIA storage data is often published a month or more after the end of the reporting period."

Cooper noted that users of the AGA storage survey may also obtain similar data from commercial providers who either currently provide it, or may offer it in the future.

The last AGA report will be Jan. 2 and cover estimating working gas in storage for the week ending Dec. 28.

Marshall Adkins, managing director of energy equity research for Raymond James & Associates Inc., Houston, noted AGA had to revise one of its estimates several months ago.

"They're probably dropping it because of the combination of the high cost of doing it weekly and the amount of grief they were getting from people. This is a report everyone looked for every single Wednesday. Without it, there surely will be a lot more volatility because you're taking a key weekly data point away from the market."

Ed Krapels, director of gas and power services for Energy Security Analysis Inc., Boston, said, "I presume EIA will be willing to issue their data more frequently.

"It would be a terrible problem for the industry if EIA didn't take up the report. In the oil sector, we've had the weekly EIA and American Petroleum Institute data for many years, one following the other, so there's no doubt EIA could do it. I hope they will."