Thursday, October 4, 2007

Natural Gas Is Up Again on Storm Watch

Natural gas prices rose in New York on Tuesday on speculation that a storm might move into the Gulf of Mexico and threaten production platforms and pipelines.

A weather system over the southeastern Gulf and the southern tip of Florida has some "potential for subtropical or tropical cyclone formation" over the next couple of days as it moves west, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said Tuesday.

"This could be the last gasp chance of getting a storm," said Michael Rose, trading director at Angus Jackson in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. "The temperature of the water is so hot it may be ripe" to produce a major storm, he said.

The weekly sea-surface temperature in the Gulf waters near Florida averaged about 29 degrees Celsius (84 Fahrenheit) as of Sept. 26, according to the U.S. Climate Prediction Center. Warm water is needed for storms to form.

Natural gas for November delivery rose 37.7 cents to $7.427 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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