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US GAS: Futures Advance as Storm Shuts In Gulf Production - Wall Street Journal

--Futures climb as Tropical Storm Debby blows through Gulf of Mexico
--About 23% of oil and gas production in Gulf offline
--Weather forecasts point to warm temperatures in next two weeks.

By Dan Strumpf NEW YORK--Natural gas futures advanced after a tropical storm shuttered about a quarter of production in the Gulf of Mexico.
Natural gas for July delivery recently rose 9.2 cents, or 3.5%, to $2.717 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Producers in the Gulf have been shutting in production and evacuating workers on nearly 600 platforms since Saturday because of Tropical Storm Debby. The U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said about 23% of gas and oil production in the Gulf had been shut in as of Sunday.
"There are tropical storm warnings as Debby heads toward landfall on the panhandle of Florida later this week, currently drenching much of the state," said Matt Smith, an analyst at Summit Energy in Louisville, Ky.
Offshore production in the Gulf of Mexico accounts for 12% of gas production in the U.S., according to the Energy Information Administration. Prices often rise when severe storms threaten production in the region.
Tropical Storm Debby was stationary over the northeastern Gulf of Mexico early Monday, the National Hurricane Center said. The storm has maximum sustained winds of 50 miles an hour and is located about 90 miles south-southwest of Apalachicola, Fla.
BP PLC (BP, BP.LN), the biggest oil and gas producer in the Gulf, said its production would be completely shut in by the middle of Sunday. Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) said it shut in less than seven million cubic feet of gas production a day after evacuating nonessential personnel over the weekend.
Gas futures have risen sharply in recent months, as warming temperatures boost air-conditioning use, leading to increased gas-fired power demand. Weather outlooks point to above-average temperatures across much of the country over the next two weeks, which could lead to even-higher prices ahead.
"The more salient driver of price strength would appear to be the temperature factor in our opinion," said Jim Ritterbusch, president of trading advisory firm Ritterbusch and Associates.
Write to Dan Strumpf at [email protected].