# Regional natural-gas storage tightness | PIER20 benchmarks How tight is natural-gas storage across the five reporting regions? This page scores how natural-gas storage sit versus their own five-year seasonal averages across the five storage regions. Each region gets a percentage tightness score. Positive means stocks are below the seasonal norm (tight). Negative means stocks are above the norm (slack). The composite averages the regions equally. One large region cannot dominate the score. A high composite means inventories are tight for the season across the board. As of **31 July 2026**, the latest reading is **-8.56 % deviation**. That is up 0.8 pp over the past year and below its long-run median of -1.95 % deviation. ## Summary statistics (full history) | Series | First | Latest | Min | Max | |---|---|---|---|---| | Overall tightness | -13.45 | -8.56 | -49.22 | 52.42 | | East | -9.27 | -3.82 | -43.37 | 54.94 | | Midwest | -9.15 | -5.56 | -62.51 | 68.64 | | Mountain | -10.67 | -14.42 | -88.64 | 46.40 | | Pacific | -25.74 | -15.30 | -54.24 | 57.16 | | South Central | -12.43 | -3.72 | -65.02 | 55.77 | ## Last 24 readings | Date | Overall tightness | East | Midwest | Mountain | Pacific | South Central | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | 20 Feb 2026 | -13.37 | 10.12 | 10.43 | -45.36 | -44.91 | 2.86 | | 27 Feb 2026 | -12.42 | 13.44 | 13.83 | -47.48 | -48.90 | 7.01 | | 6 Mar 2026 | -13.84 | 15.26 | 14.45 | -51.85 | -53.44 | 6.37 | | 13 Mar 2026 | -16.99 | 8.71 | 11.44 | -55.20 | -54.24 | 4.35 | | 20 Mar 2026 | -14.86 | 14.64 | 14.25 | -57.42 | -51.83 | 6.06 | | 27 Mar 2026 | -15.91 | 13.35 | 13.34 | -61.15 | -49.36 | 4.26 | | 3 Apr 2026 | -16.33 | 10.95 | 11.74 | -59.30 | -47.57 | 2.54 | | 10 Apr 2026 | -16.50 | 11.34 | 10.90 | -59.15 | -47.13 | 1.53 | | 17 Apr 2026 | -17.53 | 7.23 | 6.24 | -56.67 | -43.85 | -0.57 | | 24 Apr 2026 | -16.81 | 5.32 | 4.35 | -52.83 | -40.21 | -0.70 | | 1 May 2026 | -14.70 | 3.30 | 3.50 | -45.00 | -36.32 | 1.01 | | 8 May 2026 | -13.27 | 2.85 | 3.20 | -40.45 | -32.81 | 0.86 | | 15 May 2026 | -12.64 | 1.98 | 2.41 | -37.14 | -30.75 | 0.28 | | 22 May 2026 | -11.37 | 2.37 | 1.22 | -32.90 | -28.22 | 0.67 | | 29 May 2026 | -11.09 | 1.40 | 0.09 | -30.49 | -27.71 | 1.27 | | 5 Jun 2026 | -11.26 | 0.30 | -1.57 | -27.73 | -27.59 | 0.31 | | 12 Jun 2026 | -10.59 | 1.71 | -1.78 | -25.56 | -27.48 | 0.16 | | 19 Jun 2026 | -10.01 | 0.96 | -3.16 | -22.22 | -25.40 | -0.23 | | 26 Jun 2026 | -10.03 | -0.80 | -4.64 | -20.42 | -22.84 | -1.45 | | 3 Jul 2026 | -10.33 | -0.44 | -4.84 | -20.82 | -22.98 | -2.59 | | 10 Jul 2026 | -10.11 | -0.45 | -4.85 | -20.72 | -21.54 | -3.01 | | 17 Jul 2026 | -9.59 | -1.02 | -4.67 | -19.17 | -19.30 | -3.77 | | 24 Jul 2026 | -8.92 | -2.41 | -5.42 | -16.67 | -16.52 | -3.60 | | 31 Jul 2026 | -8.56 | -3.82 | -5.56 | -14.42 | -15.30 | -3.72 | ## How to read this benchmark **What a positive or negative composite means.** A positive composite means regions hold less natural-gas storage than their seasonal norms on average (tightness). A negative composite means the regions are above their norms (slack). The per-region lines show whether tightness is broad or concentrated. One deeply positive region inside a flat composite is a regional dislocation, not a national one. Regional dislocations move regional basis and pipe economics before they move national prices. **Why percentage deviation, not barrels.** Regions hold very different volumes. Raw barrels cannot be compared across regions. A draw in a small region and a draw on the Gulf Coast can both read as the same barrel change with opposite market meaning. Scaling each region's shortfall or surplus by its own seasonal average puts every region on one percentage scale before averaging. **Why equal-weight the regions.** The composite is the mean of the regional tightness scores, not a volume-weighted mean. The smallest region gets the same voice as the largest. The purpose is breadth of tightness (how many regions sit below their norms), not the total barrel shortfall. **Limitations.** The five-year baseline rolls forward. The current year never enters it. A percentage deviation around a tiny average can look extreme on paper. Regional definitions follow storage-reporting conventions, not pipeline geography. Treat the chart as context for regional supply conditions, not investment advice. ## How this benchmark is used **The regional-winter buffer read.** Gas storage is regional by construction. The South Central (primarily salt caverns) and the East fill and drain on different schedules and prices differ by region. A winter that drains the East and Midwest faster than the South Central shows up here as a regional divergence that the Lower-48 total smooths away; regional gas desks read exactly that pattern. ## Frequently asked questions **What is the current regional natural-gas storage tightness?** As of 31 July 2026, the latest reading is -8.56 % deviation. That is up 0.8 pp over the past year and below its long-run median of -1.95 % deviation. **How often is this benchmark updated?** This benchmark is built on weekly data. The page is refreshed when the source publishes new observations; the freshness block below the chart shows the exact data-through date and when PIER20 last fetched the file. **What data sources does this chart use?** The chart is built from Overall tightness, East, Midwest, Mountain, Pacific and South Central, sourced from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). **What does a composite of zero mean?** Zero means the average of the regional tightness scores is zero. The regions are collectively at their five-year seasonal norms. It does not mean every region is at its norm. Offsets can hide inside the average. Read the component lines for coverage. **How is this different from the national storage page?** The national page is the Lower-48 total versus its band. The headline number; This page keeps the five regions separate on a common percentage scale, so a regional imbalance (a cold winter in the East, a salt-cavern build in the South Central) is visible even when the total looks balanced. **How is the composite computed when a region is missing data?** The composite averages only the regions with valid scores that week. A region with no baseline or a missing observation drops out. The composite line starts once the first region has a five-year window. The component lines show coverage. ## Methodology - Formula: tightnessPct_i = (fiveYearAvg_i − current_i) / fiveYearAvg_i × 100; composite = equal-weight mean of tightnessPct_i (positive = tight) - Frequency: Weekly - Sources: Overall tightness (composite:overall) https://www.eia.gov/dnav/ng/hist/nw2_epg0_swo_r31_bcfw.htm; East (east) https://www.eia.gov/dnav/ng/hist/nw2_epg0_swo_r31_bcfw.htm; Midwest (midwest) https://www.eia.gov/dnav/ng/hist/nw2_epg0_swo_r32_bcfw.htm; Mountain (mountain) https://www.eia.gov/dnav/ng/hist/nw2_epg0_swo_r34_bcfw.htm; Pacific (pacific) https://www.eia.gov/dnav/ng/hist/nw2_epg0_swo_r35_bcfw.htm; South Central (southcentral) https://www.eia.gov/dnav/ng/hist/nw2_epg0_swo_r33_bcfw.htm. Data via the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). - Data through: 31 July 2026 - Last refreshed: 11 Aug 2026 Full interactive chart: https://pier20.com/benchmarks/regional-natural-gas-storage-tightness Disclaimer: research software output, not investment advice.