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.

“What we saw today was the market writing off the threat ofHurricane Floyd,” a Midcontinent trader said. Sellers came into the[futures] market with confidence, he continued.

But although Floyd is dominating news coverage, it is HurricaneGert, still located well out in the Atlantic, that traders should bemonitoring, according to New York-based Thompson Global. If Floydclears out enough resistance, Gert may be able to slip into the Gulfof Mexico, though a similar alley to the one Georges followed a yearago (see NGI’s coverage ofHurricane Georges),” Thompson Global wrote in their Sept. 14NatGas Report.

But of more imminent concern may be a low pressure vortex systemthat is forming between Floyd and Gert in the Atlantic, said JLLaurenti of Omaha-based Strategic Weather Services. Although it isnothing more than an area of disturbance right now and isn’t ofmuch concern in the face of Floyd, it could become more organizedin the next day or two, he said.

Until then the market will have to rely on weekly storage datafor direction. Thompson Global expects the American Gas Associationwill announce an injection in the 65-75 Bcf area, which would fallin line with the 70 Bcf refill seen a year ago. The five-yearaverage injection for this week is 76 Bcf.

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