Natural gas prices gain as tropical storm bears down on Gulf Coast

                         Natural gas prices rose on Friday as Tropical Storm Karen chugged closer to the energy-rich U.S. Gulf of Mexico coast, prompting offshore rig evacuations ahead of time, which crimps supply.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas futures for delivery in November traded at USD3.515 per million British thermal units during U.S. trading, up 0.44%. 

The commodity hit a session low of USD3.494 and a high of USD3.535.

The November contract settled down 1.21% at USD3.499per million British thermal units on Thursday.

At the time of writing, Karen's maximum sustained winds were at 50 miles per hour and Tropical Storm Warning flags were flying along the Gulf Coast.

While the storm appeared weaker than in previous forecasts, the system was still strong enough to prompt energy companies to begin evacuating rigs on Thursday.

The Gulf of Mexico is home to 10% of U.S. natural gas production.

A bearish supply report capped gains, however.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report on Thursday that natural gas storage in the U.S. in the week ended Sept. 27 rose by 101 billion cubic feet, above market expectations for an increase of 94 billion cubic feet.

Inventories increased by 77 billion cubic feet in the same week a year earlier, while the five-year average change for the week is a build of 82 billion cubic feet.

Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 3.487 trillion cubic feet as of last week. Stocks were 155 billion cubic feet less than last year at this time and 49 billion cubic feet above the five-year average of 3.438 trillion cubic feet for this time of year.

The report showed that in the East Region, stocks were 106 billion cubic feet below the five-year average, following net injections of 58 billion cubic feet. 

Stocks in the Producing Region were 102 billion cubic feet above the five-year average of 1.056 billion cubic feet after a net injection of 33 billion cubic feet.

Elsewhere on the NYMEX, light sweet crude oil futures for delivery in November were up 0.22% and trading at USD103.54 a barrel, while heating oil for November delivery were down 0.48% and trading at USD2.9888 per gallon. - investing.com