Canada natgas exports to US back at levels seen before Alberta wildfires

NEW YORK, May 24 (Reuters) - Canadian natural gas exports to the U.S. this week returned to levels seen before wildfires in Alberta and other western provinces over the past three weeks forced producers to shut oil and gas wells and cut the amount of fuel flowing in pipelines.

That return to normal gas flows from Canada caused U.S. gas futures to plunge about 10% earlier this week since Canada supplies about 8% of the gas consumed in, or exported from, the U.S.

Last week, U.S. gas prices jumped about 14% due in part to the reduction in supplies from Canada.

Data provider Refinitiv said the amount of gas exported from Canada to the United States was on track to hold near a three-week high of 8.1 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) for a second day in a row on Wednesday.

At one point over the past three weeks, the wildfires forced Canadian producers to cut exports to a 25-month low of just 6.4 bcfd on May 17.

On average over the past few weeks, gas flows from Canada to the U.S. averaged just 7.2 bcfd.

That is well below the 8.3-bcfd average amount of gas Canada exported to the U.S. since the start of the year and 2022's average of 9.0 bcfd. (Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by Sharon Singleton)