Natural Gas Storage Levels Screensaver
The Natural Gas Storage Levels screensaver charts real US working gas in underground storage (Bcf) from the EIA's Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report, over a shaded 5-year band with a dashed average line. The data pipeline needs a free EIA API key. It's free, needs an internet connection, and ESC exits.
How the Natural Gas Storage Levels screensaver works
A pipeline script pulls the EIA Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report (Lower 48 working gas) into content/gasstorage.json — it needs a free EIA API key, and until one is set the saver shows a plain notice.
Each week carries its own 5-year context: the shaded band spans the 5-year min–max for that week of the year, and the dashed line is the 5-year average.
The bold accent line is the current year, so you can see instantly whether storage is running above, inside or below its normal seasonal range.
The headline shows the latest level in Bcf, the week's injection (green) or withdrawal (red), and how far the level sits from the 5-year average.
A worked example
In a mild November you might see the bold line riding the top of the shaded band with a headline like 3,912 Bcf · ▲ +28 Bcf injection · +5.2% vs 5-yr avg — a comfortably supplied market. In Multi-view it pairs naturally with the Weekly Oil Inventories saver for a full energy-stocks wall.
Settings & tips
- Show 5-year band — hides or shows the shaded min–max range if you prefer just the current line and dashed average.
Frequently asked questions
- Is this real data?
- Yes. It's the EIA's own Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report — the number traders watch every Thursday — refreshed on the report's real weekly schedule, not simulated.
- Does it need an API key?
- The saver itself doesn't, but the site's data pipeline does: a free EIA API key (eia.gov/opendata) must be configured, then the feed builds automatically. Without it the saver says so on screen.
- Does it work offline?
- No. It reads a small JSON feed over the internet; offline it shows a short notice instead of stale numbers.
- Is it free?
- Yes — free, no download, in your browser, and the EIA key it relies on is free too. ESC exits.
- What do the band and dashed line mean?
- For each week of the year, the band spans the highest and lowest storage level seen in the previous five years, and the dashed line is their average — the seasonal 'normal' the current year is judged against.