U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Office of Electricity, Delivery and
Energy Reliability

ENERGY ASSURANCE DAILY

July 15, 2005

Highlights/Major Development

Update: Hurricane Dennis

Gulf of Mexico Shut-in Production MMS release #3305

The Minerals Management Service has released its final report on the status of oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico relating to hurricane Dennis. Based on the latest data available from the MMS, all 819 manned platforms and 134 rigs currently operating in the GOM have been remanned. Shut in oil production is equivalent to 2.03% of daily production (down from 3.63% on Thursday), and shut-in gas is 0.65% of daily production (down from 2.68% on Thursday). The cumulative shut-in oil production for the period 7/8/05-7/15/05 is 5,297,404 bbls, which is equivalent to 0.968% of the yearly production of oil in the GOM which is approximately 547.5 million barrels. The cumulative shut-in gas production 7/8/05-7/15/05 is 23.246 BCF, which is equivalent to 0.637% of the yearly production of gas in the GOM which is approximately 3.65 TCF

This survey is reflective of 4 companies’ reports as of 11:00 a.m. Central Time.

Districts / Lake Jackson / Lake Charles / Lafayette / Houma / New Orleans / Total
Platforms Evacuated / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0
Rigs Evacuated / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0
Oil, BOPD Shut-in / 0 / 0 / 0 / 807 / 29,572 / 30,379
Gas, MMCF/D Shut-In / 0 / 0 / 0 / 3.00 / 62.04 / 65.04

http://www.mms.gov/ooc/press/2005/press0715.htm

Update: Hurricane Emily

According to the National Weather Service latest advisory as of 2PM EDT Friday, Hurricane Emily is a category 3 storm that has weakened as it continues to move west across the central Caribbean Sea. No significant change is anticipated in strength Friday.

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPAT5+shtml/151749.shtml

Electricity

30,000 Niagara Mohawk Customers Without Power July 14

1,500 customers remained without power Friday morning, down from the 30,000 who lost electricity at the height the storms on Thursday.
http://news10now.com/content/top_stories/default.asp?ArID=45605

Energy Northwest Proposing Construction of $1 billion, 600 MW Coal Plant

The consortium Energy Northwest is considering two sites in Western Washington for its proposal to build a $1 billion, 600-megawatt power plant fueled by gasified coal and coal-like petroleum coke. http://pro.energycentral.com/professional/news/power/news_article.cfm?id=5804060

Expanded Newport News Terminal to Receive Imports

Alpha Natural Resources Inc., along with Arch Coal, Dominion Energy, and Peabody Energy, plan to expand Dominion Terminal Associates’ (DTA) existing export terminal in Newport News, Virginia, into a coal import facility. Permits have been obtained, and construction may begin in late 2005 with completion expected in early 2007.
http://pro.energycentral.com/professional/news/power/news_article.cfm?id=5804099

Platts Coal Trader, July 15, 2005

200 MW Wind Farm Planned for Greenbrier, West Virginia
A facility containing 133 electricity-generating wind turbines may be built in Greenbrier County, West Virginia. The 200 megawatt facility, called Beech Ridge Wind Farm, will be located south of the Monongahela National Forest, including Beech Ridge, Big Ridge, Ellis Knob, Old Field, Nunly Mountain, Rockcamp Ridge, Shellcamp Ridge and parts of Cold Knob. Developer and operator Invenergy LLC plans to apply for a state siting certificate this fall.
http://pro.energycentral.com/professional/news/power/news_article.cfm?id=5804970
http://www.energycentral.com/centers/news/daily/article.cfm?aid=5804970

DTE’s Fermi Begins to Exit Outage

DTE Energy’s 1,111 MW Fermi nuclear generating station began to exit an outage. DTE shut the unit on June 25 to repair a leak in a cooling unit.

Reuters 07:21, July 15, 2005.

Turkey Point Unit 4 Returns to Service

The 693 MW unit 4 at FPL’s Turkey Point nuclear generating station had ramped up to 30 percent of capacity by early Friday morning as it exited an outage that began on June 27 following a transformer fire.

Reuters 7:20, July 15, 2005.

Reliant’s 215 Gas-fired Mandalay Unit in California Shut July 15

Reuters 7:19, July 15, 2005

Duke’s 354 Gas-fired Moss Landing Unit 6 in California Shut July 15

Reuters 7:19, July 15, 2005

Mirant’s 342 MW Gas-fired Pittsburg Unit 7 in California Shut July 15

Reuters 7:19, July 15, 2005

Petroleum

See Update above in Highlights/Major Developments

Update: BP Makes Slow Progress in Righting Thunder Horse

BP has made some slight progress in its efforts to right the listing Thunder Horse platform. The cause of the problem remains unknown and BP is uncertain if the problem was brought about by the hurricane or resulted from some undetermined cause. Thunder Horse was slated to begin production before the end of this year, but at this point, the company has not made a determination if the start-up will be delayed.

Reuters 13:08, July 15, 2005.

Output Unaffected by Fire at Valero’s Houston Refinery

According to Valero, a small fire at its 85,000 b/d Houston refinery has not impacted production. Valero’s fire crew extinguished the fire around 5:15 on Thursday afternoon shortly after it was discovered. No injuries were reported.

Reuters 12:19, July 15, 2005.

Reuters 22:47, July 14, 2005.

Despite Weakening, Concerns About Emily Drive Oil Prices Up

Despite the absence of any impact on Venezuelan production and only minor delays in the flow of exports from Venezuela, crude oil closed above $58 on concerns that the eventual path of hurricane Emily could impact U.S. oil and gas offshore facilities in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as refinery production on the mainland.

Reuters 15:21, July 15, 2005.

Reuters 15:26, July 15, 2005.

Reuters 12:04, July 15, 2005.

Reuters 11:44, July 15, 2005.

Reuters 11:24, July 15, 2005.

Natural Gas

See Update above in Highlights/Major Developments

FERC Approval Needed for Trunkline to Begin Additional LNG Deliveries

Trunkline LNG is ready to send out expected LNG deliveries at its Lake Charles, Louisiana facility. Trunkline asked FERC “to authorize start-up and an interim tariff by July 20.”

Source: Natural Gas Intelligence (July 14, 2005)

http://powermarketers.netcontentinc.net/newsreader.asp?ppa=8kowu%5D%5BechjipoRTif%7DGJ%7Bbfek%5Cv

Leaking Colorado Gas Well Capped
A leaking natural gas well in rural San Miguel County in Colorado led local authorities to evacuate the area in a three mile ring surrounding the well and also led the Federal Aviation Administration to impose a "no fly zone," which closed airspace in a 15-mile radius up to 10,000 feet to prevent the possibility of gas being ignited by passing aircraft. The well owned by EnCana Oil and Gas has been successfully capped.

http://pro.energycentral.com/professional/news/gas/news_article.cfm?id=5803111

http://www.telluridenews.com/articles/2005/07/15/news/top_stories/news02.txt

http://telluridegateway.com/articles/2005/07/14/news/top_stories/news02.txt

Other News

Rail Problems Plaguing Coal Could Imperil Electricity Supply

Arch Coal and Massey Energy, two large producers of coal warned that rail disruptions could lead to shortages of coal needed for the generation of electricity. Although the warnings came primarily in terms of the negative impact on company earnings, both companies are experiencing a shortfall in shipments. Inventories are accumulating at the mines as stocks at power plants are being drawn down.

Reuters 11:58, July 15, 2005.

Florida Legislators Seek to Ban Oil and Natural Gas Off Florida Coastline

Nineteen Florida lawmakers introduced legislation this week, seeking to permanently ban oil and natural gas off the Florida coastline.

Source: Natural Gas Intelligence (July 14, 2005)

http://powermarketers.netcontentinc.net/newsreader.asp?ppa=8kowu%5D%5BechjipoRTif%7DGJ%7Bbfek%5Cv

Energy Prices

Latest (07/15/05) / Week Ago / Year Ago
CRUDE OIL
West Texas Intermediate US
$/Barrel / 58.36 / 59.71 / 40.70
NATURAL GAS
Henry Hub
$/Million Btu / 8.02 / 7.87 / 5.92

Source: Reuters

This Week in Petroleum from the Energy Information Administration (EIA)

http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/twip/twip.asp

Updated on Wednesdays

Weekly Petroleum Status Report from EIA
http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/weekly_petroleum_status_report/wpsr.html

Updated after 1:00pm (Eastern time) on Wednesdays

Natural Gas Weekly Update from EIA

http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/ngw/ngupdate.asp

Updated after 2:00 pm (Eastern time) on Thursdays

ENSEC threat awareness blog site from Energy Assurance

http://ensec.blogspot.com

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