Energy Prospectus

Opening Prices:
> WTI is down 14c to $43.21/Bbl, and Brent is down 9c to $45.77/Bbl. < WTI moved over $43.20 shortly after the markets opened on news that Hurricane Laura is now a Cat 4.
> Natural gas is up 4.0c to $2.529/MMBtu.

The summary of EIA's weekly Petroleum Report will be out at 10:30AM ET. Key in mind that the report is for the week ending August 21, so the hurricane activity will not show up until next week's report.

Closing Prices:
> WTI prompt month (OCT 20) was up $0.04 on the day, to settle at $43.39/Bbl.
> NG prompt month (SEP 20) was down $0.028 on the day, to settle at $2.461/MMBtu. < The October 20 contract closed at $2.528.

Traders are waiting to see how Hurricane Laura impacted GOM production facilities. Waves over 50ft high can cause damage to production facilities.
Natural gas production was shut-in of more than 1.5 Bcf per day, but electricity outages caused by the storm might lower power generation demand for a few days. The hurricane force winds will move quickly through an area of SW Louisiana that is not heavily populated. Most of the damage will be from 15-20 foot storm surge and lots of downed trees. Lake Charles may see quite a bit of flooding and structure damage.