Nymex Natural Gas Soars on Concern Over Hurricane: World's Biggest Mover

[bemildred]

Aug. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Natural gas soared as much as 23 percent in New York, the biggest fluctuation of any commodity today, to a record on concern Hurricane Katrina will damage offshore rigs.

Gas for September delivery rose $1.478, or 15 percent, to $11.27 per million British thermal units at 10:01 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract earlier reached a record high $12.07 per million Btu.

Katrina blew through the Gulf of Mexico's gas-producing regions this weekend with winds of at least 150 miles (241 kilometers) an hour. It made landfall this morning in Louisiana as a Category 4 storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale. The Gulf accounts for 24 percent of U.S. gas output.

``There is concern that this storm has the potential to uproot some of the rigs and destroy them,'' said Peter Beutel, an energy consultant and president of Cameron Hanover Inc. in New Canaan, Connecticut. ``The concern here is that we're going to lose a sizable chunk of production, not just for a couple of days, not just a couple of weeks, but possibly for months or more.''

Bloomberg

[bee]

1. last year it cost us...

$250.+ per month to heat our 2 story apt up here in NH... if nat. gas goes up even more... I dont know what we'll do about heat. Many of us up north stand to face a horrible winter if this holds true. Its bad enough already.
:scared:

[bemildred]

2. That is also the cost of cooling, where I live.

I suggest thinking about insulation now. I am.

I did think 23% was an impressive move for such an essential commodity.
Suggests "volatility".

[bee]

3. I think youre right

living in apartment, in a 250 year old house, and still most original windows. Time for a trip to home depot...

nat gas for cooling too? so it will effect you right away... sigh~ its just terrible.

[bemildred]

4. Nat. Gas ==> Electricity ==> Air conditioning.

A lot of "peaker" power plants run on "cheap" natural gas,
a lot of which comes from our good friends up in Canada.
We are working frantically to drill the living shit out of
the inter-montane west too, looking for more.

[bee]

5. so basically the cost of all forms of energy

is just going to continue to rise - because one is directly linked to another....
We are disturbingly close to a nuclear plant where I live... but Im not sure how much of our electricity it generates. Seems like this energy crisis is going to hit most average Americans quite hard. With everything increasing... a lot of people wont be able to get by.

[bemildred]

6. Yes. But there still won't be any inflation.

:-)

[bee]

7. and thankfully

the economy is so strong :sarcasm:

[54anickel]

8. Canadian Gas Soars as Hurricane Shuts Gulf of Mexico Production

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000082&sid=aABUGPU3VnKU&refer=canada

Aug. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Canadian natural-gas prices soared after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf of Mexico, the biggest energy-producing region of the U.S.

Hurricane-related shutdowns in the Gulf began Aug. 27. The U.S. Minerals Management Service will release its first report of production cuts at 1 p.m. New York time today.

``The impact on prices is really dependent on the track of the storm and how it affects production platforms and gathering lines in the Gulf,'' said Frank Verrastro, director of the energy program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. ``If the impacts are anything like Hurricane Ivan last year, then prices will clearly spike up.''

Gas for same-day delivery at EnCana Corp.'s AECO C hub in Alberta, the nation's largest trading point, jumped 73 cents, or 7.7 percent, to C$10.50 per gigajoule ($9.21 per million British thermal units) at 9:36 a.m. Calgary time on Natural Gas Exchange Inc.'s NGX electronic energy market.

[bemildred]

9. Yeah, and another thread says NYMEX declared force majeure.

I expect it will take a few days for things to settle down.

[FreeStateDemocrat]

10. Hurricane Greed is moving natural gas prices, cashing in on others misery.

[Whoa_Nelly]

11. Better link? Yours takes me to a different Bloomberg story

It links me to a story about Algeria.

Do you have original link?

[NFL80]

12. Energy

I heard a few days ago it cost the equivalent of $32 per barrel to convert coal into gasoline. I did the math and we have 1000 years worth of coal right here. Here is a snippet about how they did it over 50 years ago when oil was cheap and the process was not feasible:

Back in 1949, the Bureau of the Mines in Louisville, Missouri put together a demonstration plant to produce gasoline from coal. Raw coal was first crushed to about 3/4 inch size and then pulverized in a ball-mill to less than 60 mesh, then dried to 1 or 2 percent moisture content. This is mixed with a small quantity of catalyst, such as iron oxide or tin oxalate, and with a heavy oil into a paste containing about 47 percent solids. Steam-driven pumps at 10,000 psi force this paste into a radiant-type heater in which the high pressure tubing is protected by a superheated jacket. The plant was designed to work at 700 atmospheres or over 10,000 lb. pressure, in two major steps. This liquefies the coal and produces gasoline and its by-products. The output of the plant was from 300 barrels of gasoline per day depending on the coal used and the catalyst used.
Taken from ENCARTA 2004 by Microsoft.