Markets

The energy industry continues to step up efforts to help Texas and Louisiana residents impacted by Harvey, with millions of dollars in relief effort pouring into charities.

October natural gas is set to open 2 cents lower Wednesday morning as overnight data suggested continued cooling in eastern and Midwest energy markets. Overnight oil markets were mixed.

Tropical Storm Harvey punished Texas again on Wednesday, making landfall about 30 miles east-southeast of the massive petrochemical and refinery complex in Port Arthur. For the energy complex, processing plants and refineries were taking the biggest hits, with flooding expected to continue along the upper Texas coast and inland through Louisiana for the next few days.

The fuel marketing unit of Mexican state power company CFE signed a $240 million natural gas supply contract with steelmaker ArcelorMittal, the former said in release on Monday.

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.

Physical natural gas for Thursday delivery weakened in Wednesday’s trading; weakness in California along with soft pricing in Louisiana, the Midcontinent and Midwest offset gains in the Northeast. Pipelines reported Harvey-driven damage, and the NGI National Spot Gas Average fell 3 cents to $2.67.

The expiring September natural gas futures are expected to open 2 cents higher Tuesday morning at $2.94 as traders turn their attention more to Harvey-driven supply disruption than falling demand. Overnight oil markets gained.

Because the Gulf Coast increasingly is the hub for natural gas exports and industrial demand, Hurricane Harvey may foretell what could occur in future natural disasters, according to Barclays Capital.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. has resumed production from its deepwater Lucius facility, one small step in returning to business in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.