Hurricanes to sort out oil’s winners and losers

[conspiracy analyst]

Hurricanes to sort out oil’s winners and losers


By Joyce Koh, MarketWatch
Last update: 2:26 p.m. EDT June 27, 2008
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — With oil at record highs grabbing everyone’s attention, investors in energy stocks are already turning to the Atlantic Hurricane season to determine which firms will benefit and which will lose.
Even a slight disruption to production facilities in the Gulf of Mexico could push oil prices to even higher stratospheric levels, unleashing more dislocation in the energy sector: Hurting some oil and gas producers and refiners while benefiting oil players, such as aftermath service providers, analysts said.
“The hurricane season can affect the [energy] sector dramatically. It’s all about the fear factor.”
Beth Sewell, Quantum Gas & Power Services
The Gulf of Mexico accounts for about 32% of U.S. crude oil production and 15% of natural gas output.
“The hurricane season can affect the [energy] sector dramatically. It’s all about the fear factor,” said Beth Sewell, managing partner of Quantum Gas & Power Services. “As a storm comes, traders will always trade on the uncertainty and trading goes through the roof.”

….
In August 2005, Katrina — the costliest hurricane in U.S. history — damaged or destroyed 30 oil platforms, closed nine refineries and slowed operations at about 10 others. Six months after Katrina, the total shut-in oil production from the Gulf of Mexico was about 24% of the annual production and that for gas production was about 18%.
Rita, which rolled by a month later, was feared to push gasoline prices up to $5 a gallon, but it eventually turned out not to be as severe as anticipated.

Esa Ramasamy, Platt’s director of America’s oil market reporting team, said the hurricane season tends to be bullish for oil prices and the overall marketplace. But the magnitude of its impact is hard to predict. “You’re gambling with nature, and who knows what nature will turn out to be.”

Remember that’s this war in the skies has always been about control, subversion of the populace, and profit. Always. Soon the financial markets will will have to contend with another ’bout’ of Nature. Oh really? It has been 30+ years since it has been Nature that has controlled the weather. Extreme profits are in store for those in the know this hurricane season. –SS

http://weatherwars.info

Now on to the drought, that is where it isn’t presently flooding…