Hurricane

October natural gas is set to open 2 cents higher Wednesday morning at $2.99 as traders balance near-term cooling with an ever more active tropical storm dynamic. Overnight oil markets were mixed.

Cheniere Energy Inc.’s natural gas export facility in Sabine Pass, TX, on Wednesday was said to be loading its first cargo in more than a week following shut-ins from Hurricane Harvey.

Hurricane Irma, a catastrophic Category 5 storm that was barreling through the Caribbean on Wednesday, is likely to have some impact on natural gas markets if it strikes the United States, which forecasters were anticipating.

Eagle Ford Shale producers working in South Texas are getting back to business, with some of the largest operators expecting to be operating within a week or two at the same level they were before Hurricane Harvey forced them to shutter operations.

The worst may not be over for the Gulf Coast oil and gas industry in what one forecaster expects to be themost costly natural disasterin U.S. history. And Hurricane Irma, a Category 2 storm as of Thursday midday, now is lurking on the same early path across the Atlantic that Harvey took.

In the article titled “NatGas Price Spikes Possible as Demand Returns, Production Cuts Linger Post-Harvey,” it states that in 2005, hurricanes Katrina/Rita temporarily shut-in 8 Bcf/d of demand and permanently destroyed 1.7 Bcf/d of demand. Hurricanes Gustav/Ike in 2008 temporarily shut-in more than 7 Bcf/d of demand and around 1 Bcf/d was permanently destroyed. This statement was based on a report from Genscape Inc. which has indicated the report contained a typo and that it was actually supply(not demand)that was shut-in and permanently destroyed during all of those storms.

The devastation from Hurricane Harvey will be difficult to overcome, but the energy industry is making an effort to ease the pain by donating money and time to relief efforts along the Gulf Coast.

September natural gas is expected to open 2 cents lower Friday morning at $2.93 as traders view the impact of Hurricane Harvey largely as one of limiting demand. Overnight oil markets rose.

It’s been 12 long, relatively quiet years since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which at their highest intensity both ranked as Category 5 storms, washed across the U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GOM) and destroyed natural gas and platforms and onshore infrastructure.