BLBG: Natural Gas Rises as Storm System in Caribbean Threatens to Disrupt Output
Natural gas futures rose for a second day as forecasts showed that a strengthening storm over the south-central Caribbean Sea may move to gas production regions in the Gulf of Mexico.
The collection of thunderstorms has a 60 percent chance of becoming a tropical cyclone in the next 48 hours, the National Hurricane Center said in an advisory at 8 a.m. Miami time. The eastern Gulf or Florida is the “favored future path” of the system, according to MDA Federal Inc.’s EarthSat Energy Weather in Rockville, Maryland.
“The storm is offering some support to the market,” said Brad Florer, a trader at Kottke Associates Inc., an energy trading firm in Louisville, Kentucky. “People are keeping their eyes on it and something like that will force some sellers to the sideline.”
Natural gas for October delivery rose 3.8 cents, or 1 percent, to $3.957 per million British thermal units at 10:23 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The futures have gained 9.6 percent from a year ago.
The Energy Department may say tomorrow that U.S. gas stockpiles increased by 76 billion cubic feet in the week ended Sept. 17, according to the median of 11 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The five-year average gain is 70 billion.
U.S. gas stockpiles jumped 103 billion cubic feet in the week ended Sept. 10 to 3.267 trillion, the Energy Department reported last week. The increase was the biggest gain for this time of the year since 2006. The gain exceeded the five-year average for the first time since April.
Westward Movement
The weather system in the southeast Caribbean is moving westward at 15 miles per hour toward the western Caribbean, according to the hurricane center.
“The majority of model guidance continues to favor a track into the eastern Gulf or Florida,” said Matt Rogers, a forecaster with Commodity Weather Group LLC in Bethesda, Maryland. Still, there are chances that the storms may “move to Mexico or Central America areas.”
In the eastern Atlantic, Tropical Storm Lisa retained strength with sustained winds of 45 mph, the hurricane center said. The storm was 450 miles (725 kilometers) west-northwest of the Cape Verde islands, moving east-northeast at 5 mph.
To contact the reporters on this story: Moming Zhou in New York at Mzhou29@bloomberg.net;
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at dstets@bloomberg.net
