Isaac

In the immediate aftermath of disasters like hurricane Isaac, our thoughts focus on the victims and the tremendous damage to homes and infrastructure alike. As a category 1 hurricane Isaac has not so far shown the destructive force that its infamous predecessor, Katrina did in 2005.  In particular energy infrastructure has been shut in by Isaac as a precaution but appears not to have suffered lasting damage. The Gulf of Mexico remains an important center for US crude oil and natural gas production. Today we compare the production shut ins caused by Katrina and Isaac and their impact on the national picture.

Understanding the natural gas market is not for the faint hearted. Natural gas production recently returned to record levels last seen before prices fell through the floor. How could that happen in the face of record storage levels?  It’s all par for the course - in a world where the threat of a major Hurricane no longer impacts the price of natural gas (NYMEX Natural gas closed down 4 cents at $2.614 yesterday).  Today we will look at buoyant natural gas production levels.