NEW YORK: United States natural gas prices surged to the highest intraday level in over 13 years, as robust demand tests US drillers’ ability to expand supplies.

       Futures rose to US$7.555 (RM32.09) per million British thermal units in early Asian trading, topping January’s short squeeze-fuelled rally and roughly double since the start of the year.

       A global fuel crunch is rippling across markets, as suppliers struggle to meet a post-pandemic surge in consumption, further exacerbated by the war in Ukraine.

       While US natural gas prices have remained well below rates in Europe and Asia thanks to a bounty of shale fields for the last year, that discount has been shrinking.

       Backup US inventories held in underground caverns and aquifers are below normal for this time of year and production is holding flat. Meanwhile, the United States is exporting every molecule of liquefied natural gas possible to help Europe reduce its reliance on Russian energy supplies.

       Below-normal temperatures are forecast across parts of the northern United States from April 25 to May 1, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. That could increase demand for the heating and power-plant fuel, diverting supply that normally goes to storage during this time of year.

       A shortage of coal in the United States has also helped fuel the gas rally, limiting power generators’ ability to switch fuels when demand, and prices, rise.

       Stocks held in salt caverns and depleted aquifers grew 15 billion cubic feet in the week ended April 8, less then half the average gain for the period over the past five years, the Energy Information Administration said. They remain 18% below usual levels. — Bloomberg