Brother

Natural gas futures followed big brother crude’s lead lower for a second consecutive session, which had at least one veteran broker questioning the safety of the natural gas $3.155 low for the move recorded back on April 27. August natural gas futures shaved 5.8 cents during Tuesday’s regular session to close at $3.429.

While July natural gas futures recorded lofty gains of their own, the commodity on Friday once again took a back seat to big brother crude, which saw the July futures contract gain an astounding $10.75 to close out the day’s regular session at a record $138.54/bbl. July natural gas continued to hone in on the $13/MMBtu price level by gaining 17.4 cents Friday to close at $12.693, up 99 cents from the contract’s finish in the previous week.

While production is coming back online following Tropical Storm Cindy’s passing (see related story), concerns over her big brother, newly upgraded Hurricane Dennis, combined with bullish storage predictions helped keep natural gas futures elevated Wednesday.

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has signaled that he will step up efforts to lobby his brother’s administration to deny drilling permits in the Destin Dome gas field off of the state’s coast, where three major producers own 11 leases that have sat idle for more than a decade.

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush signaled last week that he will step up efforts to lobby his brother’s administration to deny drilling permits in the Destin Dome gas field off of the state’s coast, where three major producers own 11 leases that have sat idle for more than a decade.