It used to be that the onset of June made gas traders nervous about what was going to happen to the nation's energy reserves. Hurricanes have a tendency to knock Gulf Coast drilling rigs offline for weeks, putting a crimp on the supply line. That's why we saw record-high natural gas prices in 2005, the year that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita swept through the Gulf of Mexico.
But the dawn of the age of shale gas has put an end to hurricane worries. The Gulf accounted for about 14.9% of U.S. gas production in July before 2005's storms hit. Now that number is down to about 3.7%, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, thanks to the shale-oil production in North Dakota and other regions of the U.S.
Gas prices are still susceptible to a wide range of influences, of course. And they tend to rise in the summer anyway, because of the increased demand. But hurricane-related price jumps appear to be a thing of the past.
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