With the ongoing uncertainty of former Hurricane Ida’s impact on natural gas supply and demand permeating throughout the U.S. market, the weight of dangerously low storage inventories fueled steep price increases across most of the country during natural gas bidweek trading. NGI’s September Bidweek National Avg. jumped 24.0 cents month/month to $4.140/MMBtu.

Notably, September bidweek trading was marked by a similar backdrop as last year. Only a week earlier in 2020 had Hurricane Laura ravaged Lake Charles, LA, also causing widespread power outages.

Unlike Ida, though, Laura also shut down operations at the Cameron and Sabine Pass liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals. However, with Covid-19’s crushing impacts on the energy industry still prevalent around the world,...