Foreseeable risks from swelling natural gas inventories and an active hurricane season in the Atlantic Basin could bring more volatility to commodity prices in the coming months, a market expert said this week at an industry conference.

The looming threat of hurricanes, which forecasters are predicting to be more frequent this season, will be “an important story this summer,” said East Daley Analytics senior director Jack Weixel. He spoke during a panel discussion at the LDC Gas Forums Southeast in Florida.

“We all know hurricanes are no longer a production story; they are purely a demand story,” Weixel said. The storms could test the critical need for additional storage capacity, he noted, particularly in the South Central region.

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