The summer heat isn’t quite over in the U.S., but a peek at domestic natural-gas stockpiles is a chilling reminder of price spikes that could surface during the winter—and of even more danger for Europe.
U.S. natural gas inventories inched up by 61 billion cubic feet in the week ended Aug. 26, according to data released Thursday morning by the Energy Information Administration. That leaves stockpiles 11.3% lower than their five-year average—a gap that has widened throughout the so-called injection season, when natural-gas inventory builds up ahead of winter.