FxWirePro: Daily Commodity Tracker - 21st March, 2022 
Hurricane Michael, which is now a category 4 storm and threatening to devastate Florida, is energizing the natural gas bulls. The storm, which is expected to be one of the strongest to hit Florida, is intensifying as it heads north towards the Gulf coast of the US. It is due to hit land on Wednesday afternoon. The hurricane with a wind speed of 130 miles per hour extending outwards by as much as 45 miles from the center has led to a halt in oil and natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement reported Monday, more than 19 percent of oil and 11 percent of gas production capacity in the Gulf of Mexico have been shut in, and more will likely follow ahead of the hurricane. The shutdown comes at a time when the end of the injection period (when more natural gas is stored as inventory before winter), which typically lasts from April to November, is just more than a month away and the current inventory is at a much lower level. The inventory is currently at 2,866 billion cubic feet (Bcf), which is 636 Bcf less than last year at this time and 607 Bcf below the five-year average of 3,473 Bcf.
This is proving to be a boost for natural gas, which has risen sharply since September after finding support around $2.75 per MMBtu. The price is currently at $3.32 per MMBtu.
