Landfall

More than half of the natural gas that had been shut in before Hurricane Ike made landfall Sept. 13 along the Gulf Coast remained shut in Friday, the Minerals Management Service (MMS) reported. Of the 7.4 Bcf/d of gas that was being produced offshore before Ike and Hurricane Gustav crossed into the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) early this month, 52.8% still had not resumed production.

More than half of the natural gas that had been shut in before Hurricane Ike made landfall Sept. 13 along the Gulf Coast remained shut in Friday, the Minerals Management Service (MMS) reported. Of the 7.4 Bcf/d of gas that was being produced offshore before Ike and Hurricane Gustav crossed into the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) early this month, 52.8% still had not resumed production.

With an emphasis on upgrading hurricane prediction technology and landfall probability, federal agencies involved in hurricane research said last week that they have mapped out the future of hurricane forecasting capabilities in the publication “Interagency Strategic Research Plan for Tropical Cyclones: The Way Ahead.”

With an emphasis on upgrading hurricane prediction technology and landfall probability, federal agencies involved in hurricane research said Tuesday that they have mapped out the future of hurricane forecasting capabilities in the publication “Interagency Strategic Research Plan for Tropical Cyclones: The Way Ahead.”

The National Hurricane Center said it was possible for Tropical Storm Alberto to become the season’s first hurricane before making landfall on the upper Gulf Coast side of the Florida Peninsula early Tuesday morning, but the storm had minimal impact on Gulf producers and the gas futures market Monday. The July contract inched up 5.2 cents to settle at $6.224.

Four days after the rampaging Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the Louisiana Coast the natural gas industry was beginning to get some idea of the extent of the damage to onshore facilities — some of which were still under water — and offshore rigs, platforms and pipelines, some damaged and some missing in action. But, Gulf-based companies had located most of their employees, Chevron was setting up a tent city for homeless workers, and production was starting to edge up.

The Gulf Coast oil and gas industry was somewhat fortunate Thursday that Lili made landfall in central Louisiana as a Category 2 hurricane with 100 mph winds rather than the Category 4 with 145 mph winds it had been Wednesday evening. While it will take a few days for complete damage assessments, the readily apparent loss is that of supply. Lili’s presence and that of the weaker Isidore last week have removed 60 Bcf of gas production and 10 million barrels of oil from the market over the past two weeks, according to the Mineral Management Service (MMS) (see related story).

Tropical Storm Bertha, which made landfall in southeastern Louisiana Monday morning before being downgraded to a tropical depression, had no impact on production and provided no impetus for the September natural gas futures contract to stage a rally. Instead, September plunged sharply lower at the open and proceeded to bust through prior support in the high $2.70s before resting at $2.678 at the end of the day, the lowest level on the spot continuation chart since the first week in March.

Just as what could be remembered as one of the most intensehurricanes ever to make landfall on U.S. soil gradually turned tothe north and away from production assets in the Gulf of Mexico,natural gas futures turned south yesterday as traders priced stormconcerns out of the market. After gapping lower to open at $2.69the October contract never looked back, tumbling 14.5 cents on theday to finish at $2.636.