What is SoCal Citygate?

curl -H "Authorization: Token YOUR_KEY" \
  "https://api.oilpriceapi.com/v1/prices/past_year?by_code=NATURAL_GAS_SOCAL_USD&interval=daily"

Where is SoCal Citygate?

It is not a single meter. EIA describes it as the major pricing hub in Southern California, in the Los Angeles Basin, reflecting the price of moving gas from several nearby basins and Mexico into the Los Angeles metro distribution system. It is the delivery point for gas that has already crossed into the SoCalGas network, which is why it prices the local market rather than the supply basins.

How is SoCal Citygate different from SoCal Border?

SoCal Border prices gas where the interstate pipelines reach the California border. SoCal Citygate prices the same gas after it has moved through the SoCalGas backbone to the distribution system, and EIA notes that its price includes the cost of that transport from the border. Citygate is the downstream point of the two.

The distinction matters for data. EIA's daily spot price table uses SoCal Border to represent Southern California, while NATURAL_GAS_SOCAL_USD is SoCal Citygate. Comparing one to the other without noting the difference mixes two locations.

Where does the gas come from?

A significant share comes from the Permian Basin (EIA). El Paso Natural Gas Line 2000 delivers Permian gas to SoCalGas's Southern Zone; it was shut in August 2021 and returned to service in February 2023 (EIA). The Northern Zone, with receipt points at Topock, Needles and Kramer Junction, was raised to 1.4 Bcf/d in November 2023, almost 90% of its capacity before Line 235-2 shut in October 2017 (EIA). Permian gas is priced first at Waha, so Waha and SoCal Citygate sit at opposite ends of the same westbound pipes.

What role does Aliso Canyon play?

Aliso Canyon, northwest of Los Angeles, is California's largest underground gas storage field. Without regulatory caps it holds 86.2 Bcf of working gas, 63% of the SoCalGas total. After a well leak in 2015 and repair in 2016, it has run at reduced capacity since 2017; in November 2021 the California Public Utilities Commission capped it at 41.2 Bcf. On 31 August 2023 the CPUC raised the cap by 67% to 68.6 Bcf, lifting SoCalGas's total working storage to about 120 Bcf, to avoid price spikes in the 2023-24 winter (EIA).

Storage near the city is what lets SoCalGas meet a cold day without all of the gas arriving by pipeline on that day.

Three winters, three prices

February 2021. During Winter Storm Uri, SoCal Citygate averaged a record $144/MMBtu on 12 February even though Los Angeles temperatures were near normal. EIA noted that the hub receives a significant amount of gas from the Permian Basin, where the storm cut production, and described the price as a cascading effect of the supply shortfall. Henry Hub reached $23.61 on 17 February.

December 2022. November 2022 was the coldest November in California since 2000, with 399 heating degree days against a five-year average of 229. California storage began December at 185.5 Bcf, the least since 1997. Add maintenance on West Texas pipelines and SoCal Citygate traded between $20 and $50 for most of the month, with a high of $49.67 on 13 December (EIA).

December 2023. With 140 fewer heating degree days than a year earlier, 249.3 Bcf in California storage at the start of the month, Line 2000 back in service and the higher Aliso Canyon cap, SoCal Citygate averaged $3.61, the lowest December since 2015 after inflation (EIA).

What does a normal winter week look like?

The December 2022 spike was not confined to Southern California. On 21 December 2022, PG&E Citygate, Northwest Sumas and Malin, Oregon all traded above $50/MMBtu, averaging $48.12 above Henry Hub at $6.14 (EIA). Pacific region storage was 30% below its five-year average on 16 December, and net flows from Canada in the first three weeks of the month were 4% below the second half of November. The whole West Coast was short at once, so no neighbouring hub could relieve Los Angeles.

Calmer. In the week to 12 February 2025, SoCal Citygate rose from $3.98 to $4.37/MMBtu while Henry Hub ended the week at $3.94 (EIA), a premium of 43 cents on that day. The episodes above are what that premium becomes when weather, storage and pipeline capacity all tighten at once.

What to watch

• SoCalGas storage against the Aliso Canyon cap, especially going into December.
• Maintenance on westbound pipelines from West Texas, which EIA cited among the causes of the December 2022 spike.
• California heating degree days, the driver of the 2022 spike.
• Hydro and solar output, which EIA credits with the historically low prices of the first eight months of 2024.
• The basis to Henry Hub, from the exhibit above. For the method, see basis spreads explained.

How is SoCal Citygate traded?

ICE lists a SoCal Citygate physical fixed-price contract (symbol XKF) in lots of 100 MMBtu per day, priced in dollars and cents with a minimum move of $0.0025/MMBtu, trading until the business day before the delivery month.

Using the data

NATURAL_GAS_SOCAL_USD is the SoCal Citygate daily price in $/MMBtu, published on trading days. Pair it with NATURAL_GAS_USD (Henry Hub) on shared dates for the basis; Henry Hub rows can include weekends, so filter to the dates both series report. The other hubs in this series are compared on the natural gas hubs page.