US gas in storage is above long-term average, but still in normal range

6 Jun 2012 by Jim Fickett.

The US Energy Information Administration updated natural gas statistics through March last week. Gas in storage, measured as 12-month-smoothed months of supply, rose above the long term average, though it is still in a very typical range:

Production is probably still in a rising trend, despite a well-documented slowdown in drilling:

To put the recent increase into perspective, note that production in March of 2012 was only 11% higher than production in March of 1973. Although the shale gas revolution is real, the much publicized glut is not – we are well within normal variations that frequently occur in the energy markets.