In this week's Market Movers Americas, presented by Katharine de Senne:
• Pipeline maintenance to weigh on Permian Basin gas prices
• Seasonal maintenance may limit upside to LNG feedgas demand
• Western power operators' imbalance markets add members
• Steel scrap price in focus for buy week
This week, Kinder Morgan's Tejas natural gas pipeline is undergoing maintenance through April 11, which will lower capacity farther upstream on Permian Highway Pipeline. Permian Basin prices are likely to face another bout of negative prices, with Waha gas already falling to just 27 cents at the end of last week.
A huge inventory surplus continues to pressure Gulf Coast regional gas prices, but US LNG feedgas deliveries reached a new average high in March, pointing toward higher demand. However, since US facilities take liquefaction units offline in the spring for seasonal maintenance, feedgas demand could only be able to offer limited support to spot prices.
In power, CAISO's Western Energy Imbalance Market will bring on three new market participants on Wednesday. The new participants -- Western Area Power Administration Desert Southwest, El Paso Electric and Avangrid Renewables -- are particularly noteworthy for their diversity.
The competing imbalance market, SPP's Western Energy Imbalance Service, is also welcoming five new members in April. This will boost the energy available in the market from 4.5 GW to 13 GW.
And in metals, the US April steel scrap buy week kicks off today. US prices have risen since November, and domestic mills have projected strong demand expectations for the second quarter, potentially signaling another rise in scrap prices.
I'm Katharine De Senne. Thank you for kicking off your Monday with S&P Global Commodity Insights.