Storm Ernesto approaches hurricane force

Oil and natural-gas futures gain on hurricane threat

Myra P. Saefong & Wanfeng Zhou
MarketWatch - 4:57 AM ET Aug 27, 2006

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Tropical Storm Ernesto could soon develop into the first hurricane of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season, as the National Hurricane Center issued tropical-storm warnings for the south coast of the Dominican Republic and maintained hurricane watches for Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, and Guantanamo in eastern Cuba.

At 2 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time, the storm was centered about 130 miles (215 kilometers) south-southwest of Port au Prince, Haiti, and about 285 miles east-southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, the NHC said. Maximum sustained winds were 60 miles an hour, and the storm was moving west-northwest at 9 mph. A Category 1 hurricane's winds are at least 74 mph.

A tropical storm warning means the NHC expects tropical-storm conditions within the warning area within 12 to 24 hours. The hurricane watch means the storm could reach hurricane force within 36 hours.
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"If the storm intensifies over the weekend, Sunday night's electronic trade could open sharply higher," said Kevin Kerr, editor of Global Resources Trader, a newsletter of MarketWatch, the publisher of this report.

Crude-oil futures closed modestly higher Friday, but natural-gas prices scored a gain of more than 6% for the week as forecasters predicted that a tropical storm in the Caribbean has the potential to threaten the Gulf of Mexico and disrupt energy production.

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People in this hurricane's path, please don't take any chances. If you can't leave the area, find good shelter. Prepare yourselves for the worst.

Anonymous