-- The Department of Energy has received no new requests for
loans of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in the wake
of Hurricane Rita, a DOE spokesman said.
-- US gasoline demand has fallen 200,000 b/d, or about 3%, in the
past month amid near-record prices at the pump and as two hurricanes
wrecked a large part of the Gulf Coast region, the head of the
Energy Information Administration said on Oct 6.
-- The Louisiana Dept of Natural Resources on Oct 6 said
operators of onshore and shallow-water wells in a 38-parish region
have restored 38,053 b/d, or 18.7% of the region's oil production of
203,139 b/d before Katrina and Rita made landfall. The agency also
said operators have restored 515,400 Mcf/d of gas production, or
23.1% of the region's pre-storm output of roughly 2.235 Bcf/d.
-- Royal Dutch/Shell is in the process of securing equipment and
contracts necessary to execute recovery at its Mars tension leg
platform, which was severely damaged by Katrina, the major said on
Oct 6.
-- US contract driller Rowan plans to add nine land rigs to its
fleet by the end of the second quarter as part of a program to
recoup revenues lost to hurricane-damaged equipment, the company
said on Oct 5. The company said Hurricane Rita apparently sunk three
of its jack-up rigs while leaving a fourth severely damaged, costing
Rowan revenues of $290,000/day.
-- Stone Energy lowered its expected third quarter production to
212,000 Mcfe/d and its full year production to 230,000- 245,000
Mcfe/d due to the effects of Katrina and Rita. Stone said it
previous production guidance for both the third quarter and full
year 2005 was 260,000-280,000 Mcfe/d.
-- Soaring natural gas prices have put the US chemical industry
in jeopardy, and will likely push new investments overseas, Dow
Chemical President Andrew Liveris told a US Senate hearing on the
effects of Katrina and Rita on the energy market.
-- Enterprise Products Partners said the majority of its US Gulf
of Mexico and Gulf Coast facilities affected by Katrina and Rita
have restarted operations.
-- Shell Oil Products US and Motiva Enterprises on Oct 6 said
that 41 Shell stations in the New Orleans area were open for
business as of Oct 4 in the wake of Katrina and Rita. Shell said on
Oct 5 it expects to restart the 275,000 b/d Motiva refinery in Port
Arthur, Texas, this month.
-- Chevron has begun start-up procedures at its 325,000 b/d
Pascagoula Mississippi refinery, and expects the facility could
return to normal operations by the end of October. Katrina had
damaged the refinery's marine terminal, cooling towers and other
equipment, but a perimeter dike spared the facility from flooding.
-- Sabine Pipe Line said it will lift its force majeure declared
after Rita at another pipeline interconnect with Henry Hub effective
Friday, bringing the number of its operational interconnects at the
hub to seven. In a notice to shippers, the company said it will end
its force majeure on dhipments from Henry Hub to Jefferson Island.
Sabine also said it will end its force majeure on Oct 7 at three
interconnects--Lake Ronel, Louisiana Gas, and Texaco PL/Citgo--with
its mainline in western Louisiana.
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