HOUSTON, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Working natural gas storage in the contiguous United States was 1,390 billion cubic feet (about 39.4 billion cubic meters) as of March 1, a net decrease of 149 billion cubic feet from the previous week, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a report on Thursday.
At the level of 1,390 billion cubic feet, the natural gas storage decreased by 14.9 percent from this time last year, or 25 percent below the five-year average, according to EIA's Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report.
According to the Natural Gas Monthly report released last week, the U.S. dry natural gas production in December 2018, for the 20th consecutive month, increased year to year.
Working natural gas is defined as the amount of natural gas stored underground that can be withdrawn for use.
Working natural gas storage capacity can be measured in two ways: design capacity and demonstrated maximum working gas capacity.
The contiguous United States consists of the 48 adjoining states of the United States, plus the District of Columbia, and excludes the non-contiguous states of Alaska and Hawaii, and all off-shore insular areas.
