-- It will take until the end of the 2006 first quarter for Gulf
of Mexico oil and natural gas production disrupted by hurricanes
Katrina and Rita to return to near normal levels, while 98.3% of the
Gulf refinery capacity idled by the storms should be back on line by
the end of December, US Energy Information Administration chief Guy
Caruso told reporters on Oct 12.
-- The EIA also raised by 10 cts, to $2.68/gal, its forecast for
fourth-quarter retail regular-grade gasoline. The average pump price
in the US is "expected to increase to $2.68/gal for the fourth
quarter due, in part, to the effects of the hurricanes on refinery
capacity," EIA said. "However, hurricane recovery should result in
price decreases by the first quarter of 2006."
-- The agency also said total US energy demand is expected to
slip from 25.2-quadrillion Btu in the third quarter of 2005 to
25.1-quadrillion Btu in the fourth quarter, as higher prices from
hurricane-related damage takes a bite out of demand.
-- Mexico's state owned Pemex has hired two crude carriers, each
with 2-mil bbl capacity, to store heavy Maya crude unable to find a
ready market in the US, a source at the state company said on Oct
12. Since hurricanes Katrina and Rita ravaged Gulf Coast refineries,
Pemex has been unable to deliver 20-mil bbl of crude to the US, the
source said.
-- The Louisiana Dept of Natural Resources on Oct 12 said
operators of onshore and shallow-water wells in a 38-parish region
of the state have restored 46,174 b/d of oil production, or 22.7% of
the area's output before Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The agency put
restored natural gas production at 686,800 Mcf/d, or 30.7% of the
region's pre-storm output of 2.235 Bcf/d. The numbers from Oct 12
are virtually unchanged from those on Oct 11.
-- Natural gas demand in the US is expected to drop by 1.1-1.2%
this year versus 2004 because more industrial plants have switched
to residual oils as a fuel source and the petrochemical sector is
using less gas in the wake of production cuts resulting from
hurricanes Katrina and Rita, EIA AdministratorDirector Guy Caruso
said on Oct 12.
-- With hurricanes Katrina and Rita causing production and
infrastructure damage that will take months to repair, Americans are
facing much higher bills this winter to heat their homes, the EIA
said on Oct 12. EIA, in its forecast for winter (October through
March) heating prices, estimated that households heating primarily
with natural gas can expect to spend about $350 more -- a 48% hike
-- this winter to heat their homes than last year.
-- Entergy Corp still has four generating units damaged and out
of service a result of Hurricane Rita, which hit the Gulf Coast at
the Texas-Louisiana border Sept 24. Three units at the 1,890-MW
Sabine power plant in Bridge City, Texas, and one unit at the 1,031
MW Roy Nelson power plant in Westlake, Louisiana, are damaged, but
Entergy said it will no longer provide estimates when units are
expected to be repaired.
-- The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission late on Oct 11
granted Discovery Gas Transmission LLC an emergency waiver allowing
it to reroute its pipeline system to transport natural gas shut-in
due to damage incurred at Dynegy's Venice, Louisiana, processing
plant in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
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