According to this Reuters story:

"We have energy companies buying to protect rigs in the Gulf with the cat-in-the-box product ... while (coastal contracts) cover the landfall of the storm, and are being bought by insurers, reinsurers and hedge funds," Patrick Gonnelli, president of Carvill Capital Markets, said in a phone interview.
On Thursday, Gustav was forecast to strengthen into a hurricane in coming days as it neared the Gulf of Mexico, home to a quarter of U.S. crude oil production and 15 percent of its natural gas output.
Gonnelli said others are buying derivatives "on pure speculation because it (Gustav) looks like it is going to go into the Gulf."

We covered the contracts at their launch last year and in depth later the same year.