-- The Louisiana Dept of Natural Resources said 291, or 4.9%, of
5,949 onshore and shallow water oil and natural gas wells in
production in a 38-parish region before Katrina and Rita are back in
operation. It added that 1,267 wells, or 21.3%, of the region's
total reportedly remain shut-in, while the status of 4,391 wells, or
73.8%, of the total, has not been reported.
-- Marathon Oil said its 72,000 b/d Texas City refinery was
successfully restarted on Sep 28 and was operating at full rates.
Upstream, Marathon said its current US Gulf net production is 36,000
boe/d, down from 60,000 boe/d before Rita and Katrina. Marathon also
said its joint venture Centennial Pipeline with Teppco remains down
due to a lack of commercial power in Beaumont, Texas. An effort is
being made to use generators to bring the line back at reduced rates
by early next week. The 26- inch pipeline stretches from Beaumont to
Illinois, carrying product to the Midwest.
-- Oil and natural gas production in the US Gulf of Mexico could
be "in fairly good shape" within a month, a senior Minerals
Management Service said Friday. MMS Associate Director Thomas
Readinger told Platts following an Energy Bar Association conference
in Washington that with many of the necessary underwater inspections
and pipeline tests under way following the twin blows of hurricanes
Katrina and Rita, much of the production that has been off-line for
more than a month could be restored in as much time.
-- Shell on Sep 30 said that all 400 Shell service stations in
Houston and the surrounding areas "are open and have been refueled
in record time" following the outages associated with Hurricane
Rita.
-- Independent producer Swift Energy Friday said that its third
quarter US production would be about 9 Bcfe, down from its earlier
guidance of 11.75 to 12.25 Bcfe. The lower production figure is the
result of production hits the company has taken from Tropical Storm
Cindy, and hurricanes Dennis, Katrina, and Rita, Swift said in a
statement.
-- ExxonMobil said the 187,000 b/d Chalmette refinery in
Louisiana should have power restored in October, which would allow
the plant to restart in November. Chalmette, a 5-50 joint venture
between ExxonMobil and Venezuelan state PDVSA, was heavily damaged
by Hurricane Katrina.
-- The Texas Eastern Transmission pipeline system has picked up
about 80,000 Mcf/d of supply since the morning of Sep 29, bringing
its Hurricane Rita-related supply cuts down to 605,000 Mcf/d, a
spokesman said Sep 30.
-- Trunkline LNG on Sep 30 said it has completed inspections of
the Lake Charles, Louisiana, LNG import terminal and will accept
sendout nominations there for the gas day for Oct 1. While Trunkline
LNG is capable of discharging a vessel at the terminal, LNG vessels
still are unable to use the Calcasieu Ship Channel and Industrial
Canal. Trunkline Gas' Terrebonne, Louisiana, system, designed to
move as much as 1.5 Bcf/d, was flowing 200,000 Mcf/d on Sep 30.
-- Sabine Pipe Line has completed draining water from the main
complex of the Henry Hub in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, and is
continuing the process in surrounding areas. Henry Hub sustained
heavy flooding from Rita. The company said force majeure continues
in effect at all points on the Sabine System until further notice.
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