Hurricane

The expiring June natural gas contract is expected to open a penny higher Friday morning at $3.19 as traders note little downside to an oversupplied market. Overnight oil markets were narrowly lower.

The 2017 Atlantic hurricane season, which officially begins June 1, is likely to have above-normal activity, according to forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center.

A potential El Nino event — warmer-than-normal water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean near the equator — is likely to limit the production of tropical storms in the Atlantic Ocean this year, resulting in below-average hurricane activity, according to a pair of prominent weather forecasters.

Hurricane Matthew continued to batter Florida’s east coast Friday, knocking out electricity to hundreds of thousands, resulting in a 0.5 Bcf/d drop in natural gas demand in the state, but the longer-term impact on natural gas facilities seemed slight.

Three-day deals became a tough sell in Friday’s trading as Hurricane Matthew moved up the Florida coast, and gas for weekend and Monday delivery fell by double-digits, although most points declined by a dime or less.

Next-day natural gas bounded higher in Thursday’s trading despite the tendency for physical traders to attempt to get deals done ahead of the 10:30 a.m. EDT release of inventory data by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

November natural gas is set to open 2 cents higher Thursday morning at $3.06 as traders expect a government report to show continued historically low additions to supply. Overnight oil markets were mixed.

November natural gas is expected to open 3 cents lower Tuesday morning at $2.89 as forecasts call for warmer than normal temperatures across the nation’s midsection and traders attempt to determine the impact of Hurricane Matthew. Overnight oil markets were mixed.

Physical natural gas for Wednesday delivery moved within a few pennies of unchanged at most market points on Tuesday, although some locations in the East made an attempt to climb out of the sub-dollar doldrums.