Hurricanes

With the peak season for Atlantic hurricanes upon us as the calendar flips to August, natural gas futures kept the momentum to the upside rolling on Friday as the September contract added 9.6 cents to $4.923. The contract closed the week 36 cents higher than the previous week.

Production growth from shale plays and the return of production that had been lost in last year’s hurricanes have been masking a decline in North American conventional natural gas production, but they may not be able to continue to cover those declines in the short term, according to ARC Financial Corp. chief energy economist Peter Tertzakian.

Production growth from shale plays and the return of production that had been lost in last year’s hurricanes have been masking a decline in North American conventional natural gas production, but they may not be able to continue to cover those declines in the short term, according to ARC Financial Corp. chief energy economist Peter Tertzakian.

Natural gas futures slipped lower for the third straight session Monday as the bullish triumvirate — hurricanes, inflation and short-covering — was no match for the continued and undeniable reality of a bearish supply picture. The September contract closed at $3.641, down 3.3 cents for the session and well off the $4.045 high notched just a week ago.

El Nino — the warming of surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific ocean, which can influence the formation of Atlantic hurricanes — has arrived, scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said Thursday.

El Nino — the warming of surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific ocean, which can influence the formation of Atlantic hurricanes — has arrived, scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said Thursday.

The economic storm that has ravaged U.S. credit markets and driven down commodity prices could exacerbate the economic fallout of any hurricanes that bedevil the energy sector this year in the Gulf of Mexico, an executive with insurance firm Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc. said last Thursday.

The economic storm that has ravaged U.S. credit markets and driven down commodity prices could exacerbate the economic fallout of any hurricanes that bedevil the energy sector this year in the Gulf of Mexico, an executive with insurance firm Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc. said Thursday.

Cooler-than-normal temperatures are likely to dominate most of the eastern U.S. over the next three months, while above-normal temperatures are expected across the West, according to forecaster WSI Corp. of Andover, MA.