On October 16, John Conti, Acting Administrator for the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), formally notified governors in affected regions of reduced stocks of residential heating fuels. Under the Reliable Home Heating Act of 2014, EIA is required to issue notifications to states in those Petroleum Administration for Defense Districts (PADD) where stocks of the affected fuels fall below the five-year average for more than three consecutive weeks. These low inventories do not mean that supply issues are likely to arise. However, it does suggest that affected states should closely monitor these markets in the coming weeks. Inventories are only one indicator of market supply and were drawn down to some degree by the loss of refinery production due to Hurricane Harvey – those impacts should be temporary. NASEO advises states to review the overall supply picture EIA’s Short-Term Energy Outlook which was released on October 11 during the NASEO-EIA Winter Energy Outlook Webinar, which is available on the NASEO website.
Specifically, EIA sent notices to governors regarding the following:
•Stocks of distillate fuel, including heating oil, in the PADD 4: Rocky Mountain Region (Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming);
•Stocks of distillate fuel, including heating oil, in the PADD 5: West Coast Region (Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington);
•Reduced natural gas inventories in California, Oregon, and Washington;
•Stocks of propane in the PADD 3: Gulf Coast Region (Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Texas);
•Stocks of propane in the PADD 2: Midwest Region (North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Iowa Minnesota, Wisconsin Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee);
•Stocks of distillate fuel, including heating oil, in the PADD 1B: Central Atlantic Region (Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania).
In the notifications EIA also notes that some sub-PADD group of states in the northern PADD 2: Midwest Region are above the five-year average. For additional information, please contact Jeff Pillon (jpillon@naseo.org).