-- Hurricane Wilma lashed into southwestern Florida earlier on
Oct 24 as a Category Three storm, bringing high winds, heavy rains
and a strong storm surge. Wilma exited the state on the Atlantic
Coast as a Category Two storm, and headed over open waters in a
northeasterly direction.
-- Anadarko should have all evacuated workers returned to the
company's lone Gulf of Mexico offshore platform by Oct 25 following
Hurricane Wilma's exit from eastern Gulf waters, a company
spokeswoman told Platts on Oct 24. The company evacuated 35
non-essential workers from its Marco Polo platform, while a skeleton
crew of 15 remained. Anadarko's US Gulf production averages 20,000
boe/d.
-- Operators of onshore and shallow-water oil and natural gas
wells shut in by hurricanes Katrina and Rita in a 38-parish region
of southern Louisiana saw only small gains in production over the
weekend, the state Department of Natural Resources said on Oct 24.
The agency said that restored oil production is 65,782 b/d, or 32.4%
of the region's pre-storm total of 203,189 b/d. DNR also put
restored gas production at 885,000 Mcf/d, or 39.6% of the region's
pre-hurricane total of 2.235 Bcf/d.
-- Demand for natural gas is increasing faster than the recovery
of production supply from the Gulf of Mexico, energy analysts at
investment bank Friedman Billings Ramsey said on Oct 24, pointing to
long-term tightening in the gas markets and upward pressure on gas
prices.
-- The US will end 2005 with 48 Bcf more natural gas in storage
than the 10-year norm, implying year-end Henry Hub prices between
$12/MMBtu and $12.50/MMBtu, Natchez, Mississippi-based independent
energy analyst Stephen Smith said in his weekly outlook on Oct 24.
Smith projects a slow recovery of gas production in the Gulf of
Mexico in the wake of Katrina and Rita, but expects this to be
offset by large amounts of post-storm demand destruction through the
end of the year. He expects that slightly less than 2 Bcf/d of
production will remain shut-in heading into the new year.
-- Discovery Gas Transmission LLC has launched a second expedited
natural gas open season for limited-term firm transportation service
on its US pipeline system, the unit of Tulsa, Oklahoma-based
Williams said on Oct 24. The action is designed to modify
Discovery's existing delivery point with the Tennessee system to
receive natural gas, it added, and also provides an alternate outlet
for natural gas that has been stranded following damage to
third-party facilities during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
-- The US Minerals Management Service said on Oct 24 that oil and
natural gas shut-ins rose since Oct 21, as companies took more
output offline over the weekend as a precaution against Wilma, which
stayed away from energy installations in the Gulf of Mexico. The MMS
said crude shut-ins were 1.018-mil b/d, or 67.90% of typical output
of 1.5-mil b/d. That is up from 65.78% on Oct 21. Gas shut-ins rose
to 5.472 Bcf/d, or 54.72% of normal output of 10 Bcf/d, up from
53.37% on Oct 21.
Copyright © 2005 - Platts
Please visit:
www.platts.com
Their coverage of energy matters is extensive!!.