Washington (Platts)–6Jun2014/440 pm EDT/2040 GMT US coal stockpiles fell to 126 million st for the week ending Friday, down 32% from the five-year average, Bentek Energy said. Bentek, a unit of Platts, said lower coal production and higher coal consumption during the week meant US coal stockpiles have dipped for the second week in a row. At this time last year, US coal stockpiles totaled 176 million st. The decline comes as utilities are also face depleted natural gas inventories, though storage is building. Working gas in storage totaled roughly 1.5 Tcf for the week ending June 6, but inventories are still 37% below the five-year average. Bentek estimates US coal production declined 3% for the week ending Friday to 18.4 million st, while coal consumption increased 6% to 18.3 million st. Coal consumption increased all regions, with the largest increases in ERCOT, PJM and the Southeast. –Andrew Moore, […]