US October Natural Gas Futures Get Boost From Lingering Summer

摘要

The US October natural gas contract tacked on an additional 1% Friday as it slipped into the weekend in the upper $3.60s. An unseasonably warm weather outlook for the US Midwest and a percolating tropics added to a bullish sentiment that peaked with Thursday's lower-than-expected storage build. Weatherwise, forecasts are calling for the second half of September to be warmer than normal in the Midwest, however not as hot as the first half. Also, a tropical system in the Gulf was upgraded to Tropical Storm Ingrid Friday and was forecast to make landfall in Mexico. It was one of three named Atlantic storms the National Hurricane Center was tracking last week, including Humberto, the season's first hurricane. However, none of the systems posed a threat to the US mainland or energy infrastructure in the Gulf of Mexico. Nonetheless, it was a powerful reminder that the so-far mild storm season was picking up speed.