Company: BSM
Filing Date: 2025-05-06
Form Type: 10-Q
Source: 0001628280-25-022559
Chunk: 96

Company: Black Stone Minerals, L.P.
Filing Date: 2025-05-06
Form: 10-Q
Item: Part I, Item 2
Chunk 96
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 gas prices are significantly influenced by storage levels throughout the year. Accordingly, we monitor the natural gas storage reports regularly in the evaluation of our business and its outlook.

Historically, natural gas supply and demand fluctuates on a seasonal basis. From April to October, when the weather is warmer and natural gas demand is lower, natural gas storage levels generally increase. From November to March, storage levels typically decline as utility companies draw natural gas from storage to meet increased heating demand due to colder weather. In order to maintain sufficient storage levels for increased seasonal demand, a portion of natural gas production during the summer months must be used for storage injection. The portion of production used for storage varies from year to year depending on the demand from the previous winter and the demand for electricity used for cooling during the summer months. The U.S. Energy Information Administration ("EIA") expects inventories will rise to 3.7 Tcf by the end of October 2025, which would be 3% lower than the five-year average.

The following table shows natural gas storage volumes by region at the end of each quarter presented:20252024Region1First QuarterFirst QuarterEast284 363 Midwest364 510 Mountain165 162 Pacific202 227 South Central758 996 Total1,773 2,258 

1    Source:  EIA

Natural Gas Exports

Net natural gas exports averaged 14.4 Bcf per day during the first quarter of 2025, a 21% increase from the 2024 average.  The EIA forecasts average exports of 15.5 Bcf per day for the remainder of 2025 and 16.4 Bcf per day for 2026. The EIA forecast reflects assumptions that U.S. LNG exports will increase as new LNG export projects begin operations during 2025.

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How We Evaluate Our Operations

We use a variety of operational and financial measures to assess our performance. Among the measures considered by management are the following:

•volumes of oil and natural gas produced;

•commodity prices including the effect of derivative instruments; and

•Adjusted EBITDA and Distributable cash flow.

Volumes of Oil and Natural Gas Produced

In order to track and assess the performance of our assets, we monitor and analyze our production volumes from the various basins and plays that constitute our extensive asset base. We also regularly compare projected volumes to actual reported volumes and investigate unexpected variances.

Commodity Prices

Factors Affecting the Sales