Federal Katrina relief bill may aid energy infrastructure repairs

Washington (Platts)--31Aug2005

US lawmakers are working on an emergency supplemental appropriations bill
to provide federal relief from the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina,
including the potential restoration of energy infrastructure, a spokesman for
Sen Mary Landrieu (Democrat-Louisiana) said Wednesday. 
     Landrieu, who serves on the Senate Appropriations subcommittee for energy
and water development, has been working with Committee Chairman Thad Cochran
(Republican-Mississippi) and Sen Richard Shelby (Republican-Alabama), on a
bill that primarily would fund humanitarian relief. 
     But the bill, which has the support of leadership in both parties, would
target electricity restoration to the 2.6-mil customers without power and it
might address the oil and gas production shut-ins in the Gulf and refinery
outages in the region, if their impacts are deemed severe enough, the Landrieu
spokesman said.
     In addition to cutting off electricity, the storm has shut down 95% of
oil and 88% of natural gas production in the Gulf, according to the Energy
Dept. It also has completely shut down refineries that have roughly 1.5 mil
b/d of capacity due largely to flooding. 
     A House Appropriations Committee source said that the supplemental bill
could take priority over the FY-06 energy and water development spending bill,
which funds Energy Dept programs and Army Corps of Engineers projects. 
     Corps levees were destroyed by the storm and the source said Katrina
could skew spending toward water projects that mitigate disappearing wetlands
in the Gulf and away from DOE programs.

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