Shares of energy companies rallied as another storm approached the Gulf of Mexico, perpetuating a recent rally in natural gas.
Officials in Texas and Louisiana were preparing for Tropical Storm Nicholas, which is forecast to bring rain and strong winds to parts of the Gulf Coast just weeks after Hurricane Ida battered the region and left more than a million without power. The largest floating offshore drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico, operated by Royal Dutch Shell, has only recently started producing oil after shutting down for Ida, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Natural gas futures rose 6% to $5.27-per-million British thermal units. Oil futures rose above $70 per barrel ahead of the latest storm, with both commodities rising amid fears of more production outages.
The world's thirst for oil will exceed pre-pandemic levels next year, with improving vaccination rates and increasing public confidence in governments' management of Covid-19 spurring a recovery in travel, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said.
Write to Rob Curran at rob.curran@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
09-13-21 1641ET
