![](media/image1.jpeg){width="8.75in" height="3.6055555555555556in"}U.S.
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

**Office of Energy Assurance**

**ENERGY ASSURANCE DAILY**

###### April 13, 2004

**Electricity**

#### 

#### Power Lost Briefly at Los Angeles Intl Airport 

Power was briefly cut across Los Angeles International Airport on
Monday, including its control tower, causing flight delays, a spokesman
said. The cause of the 10-second power outage, which darkened several
buildings at the sprawling airport complex, was not immediately clear, a
spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power said.
\"It\'s a line that serves approximately 26 industrial customer sites
that included the LAX administration building and control tower and a
number of other industrial sites,\" LADWP spokeswoman Carol Tucker said.
An FBI spokesman said there was no indication of foul play. Power was
cut to the air traffic control tower at the airport, LAX spokesman
Harold Johnson said, which meant that controllers were briefly unable to
communicate with aircraft. A number of hotels and office buildings near
the airport also went dark and some buildings were reporting
intermittent outages two hours later, Tucker said. Preliminary reports
indicated that the trouble originated in an insulator at the American
Airlines industrial station, where the airline houses its electrical
equipment, Tucker said. Reuters 1504 April 12, 2004

**Edison Intl\'s Calif. San Onofre 2 Nuke Exits Outage**\
Edison International\'s 1,123 megawatt San Onofre 2 nuclear unit in
California exited an outage and ramped up to 58 percent of capacity by
early Tuesday, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in its power
reactor status report. On Monday, the unit was operating at 1 percent of
capacity.
<http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/040413/utilities_edisoninternational_sanonofre_1.html>

**AEP\'s Mich. Cook 2 nuke exits outage, up to 20 pct**\
American Electric Power Co Inc.\'s 1,090 megawatt Cook 2 nuclear unit in
Michigan exited an outage and ramped up to 20 percent of capacity by
early Tuesday, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in its power
reactor status report. The unit had been shut since about April 9.
<http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/040413/utilities_aep_cook_1.html>

**SCANA\'s S.C. Summer Nuke Back at Full Power**\
SCANA Corp.\'s 1,000 megawatt Summer nuclear unit in South Carolina
returned to full power by early Tuesday, the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission said in its power reactor status report. On Monday, the unit
was operating at 30 percent of capacity.
<http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/040413/utilities_scana_summer_1.html>

**Surry, Va., Nuclear Plant Resolves Fire-Safety Issue**\
Federal regulators told Dominion Resources Services officials Thursday
that Surry Power Station had operated safely over the past year. The
company also seemed to have resolved a potential problem on how to deal
with a fire at the plant, the regulators said. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission staff met on Thursday with officials from Dominion Energy,
the Dominion Virginia Power sister company that operates Dominion\'s two
nuclear plants, Surry and North Anna. They discussed the results of the
NRC\'s annual safety-performance assessment at the Surry plant. The NRC
said the utility was notified Feb. 2 of a preliminary finding related to
the mitigation of fires in its Emergency Switchgear room. It asked the
plant to correct any problem that might exist, should there be a fire at
the plant. \"We have taken corrective actions and modified our
procedures concerning any potential fire issues,\" said Richard Blount
II, site vice president at the Surry station. Blount said control valves
were installed, so an operator could manipulate those valves from
another location other than the emergency switch room. Before the valves
were installed, an operator would have had to enter at least part of the
room where a fire might be to activate the fire-suppression system.
Regulators determined preliminarily in February that the fire-measures
violations were of low to moderate safety significance. However, NRC
officials were concerned that Dominion\'s procedures would make it
difficult to shut down one of the reactors if there was a fire in the
Emergency Switchgear and Relay Room, a secondary control room that
contains the backup switch to turn off the units.

Reuters, April 12, 2004

#### 

#### Petroleum

#### Sunoco Philadelphia Refinery Upset Causes Flaring

An operational glitch at Sunoco Inc.\'s refinery complex in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, triggered excess flaring early Tuesday, the
company said on a refinery hotline. It was not clear what the
operational problem was or how long it would take to repair. A company
official was not immediately available to comment. The Sunoco
Philadelphia refining complex can process roughly 330,000 barrels of
crude oil per day. Reuters 1133 April 13, 2004

**Kern Says Diesel Fuel Production Suspended by Refinery Repairs**

No other information available at press time.

Bloomberg News, 1725 April 13, 2004

##### OPEC Sees Little Incentive to Tighten Taps

With US crude futures moving towards \$38 per barrel, it should come as
no surprise that Opec has done little

to implement the new, lower ceiling that went into effect Apr. 1. In
fact, most of the 10 quota-bound Opec members, including Saudi Arabia,
are pumping a collective 2.5 million barrels per day over the limit.

Oil Daily April 13, 2004

**Update - Giant Sees Ciniza Repairs Done by Mid-June**\
Giant Industries said on Monday that repairs to Ciniza refinery in New
Mexico should be completed by mid-June, with full capacity operation
possible in the rest of the plant by mid-May. A fire on April 8 \--
which the company said is under investigation by government agencies \--
damaged Ciniza\'s alkylation unit, which produces high octane blending
stock for gasoline. On April 17, the refinery was scheduled to commence
a major repair and upgrade shutdown, also known as a turnaround, the
company said in a release. In order to minimize disruption, Giant said
it had accelerated the turnaround, allowing the company to work on the
necessary repairs to the alkylation unit during the turnaround period
when the refinery would not have been operating anyway. Prior to the
fire, Giant was producing approximately 18,000 barrels per day at
Ciniza, the company said. During the turnaround and while repairs to the
damaged unit in Gallup, New Mexico were ongoing, Giant said it intended
to increase the output of its Bloomfield refinery by approximately 6,000
barrels per day.
<http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/040413/energy_giant_refinery_1.html>
<http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/040412/125834_1.html>

**US gasoline prices up 0.6 ct to fresh record of \$1.786/gal: EIA**

US retail regular-grade gasoline prices rose 0.6 ct/gal over the past
week to average \$1.786/gal as of Monday, another fresh record for
nominal gasoline prices, the US Energy Information Administration
reported in its weekly

update. Nationwide, average pump prices are now 19.1 cts/gal higher than
a year ago. Average prices in the West Coast, Midwest, and Rocky
Mountain regions all set new record highs for the latest period.
<http://www.platts.com/Oil/News/9902551.xml?S=n>

#### 

#### Natural Gas 

####### 

**Florida Governor Bush Approves Tractebel Calypso Pipeline**\
Tractebel North America, Inc.announced that on April 13, 2004, Florida
Governor Jeb Bush and his Cabinet voted to grant a Sovereign Submerged
Lands Easement and approve the Florida Department of Environmental
Protection\'s issuance of an Environmental Resource Permit (\"ERP\") in
connection with Tractebel Calypso Pipeline LLC\'s proposed construction
and operation of a 42-mile jurisdictional pipeline in Florida and U.S.
waters and along the six-mile onshore route in Broward County, Florida.
The proposed Tractebel Calypso project will transport natural gas via
pipeline from the planned liquefied natural gas (\"LNG\") storage and
regasification facility of its affiliate, Tractebel Bahamas LNG Limited,
in Freeport, Grand Bahama. The U.S. segment of the pipeline would make
landfall at Port Everglades, Florida, then travel onshore to a proposed
interconnection with the Florida Gas Transmission system adjacent to
Florida Power & Light\'s Lauderdale power plant. The Tractebel Calypso
project will transport approximately 832 million cubic feet of natural
gas into Florida per day. TNA anticipates initial gas deliveries to
begin as early as 2007.

Source: Tractebel Electricity & Gas International
<http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040413/datu040_1.html>

####### Other

# 

# Yucca Mountain: DOE Defends Hauling Nuclear Waste by Rail 

The Energy Department on Thursday defended its choice to ship most
nuclear waste by railroad to a Yucca Mountain repository, stating in a
formal notice that rail would be safer and less disruptive than
shipments of radioactive material by truck. The department said it was
moving forward with a blueprint calling for 3,000 to 3,300 railroad
shipments over 24 years from government weapons plants and commercial
nuclear utilities in 39 states to a proposed burial site 100 miles
northwest of Las Vegas. Another 1,000 shipments still would travel on
truck trailers from sites that don\'t have the capability to load
oversized 150-ton rail- shipping casks, DOE officials said. The notice
in the Federal Register also left open the prospect that some
radioactive spent fuel could be transported over water. Las Vegas
Review, April 12, 2004
<http://www.energycentral.com/centers/news/daily/article.cfm?aid=4773731>

**Calif Power Market Vulnerable to Manipulation-Report**\
California\'s electricity trading market remains vulnerable to
manipulative strategies linked to its 2000-01 energy crisis, the
state\'s attorney general said on Tuesday. Three years after supply
shortages led to rolling blackouts and bankruptcy of California\'s
biggest utility, California agencies and the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission (FERC) are still at odds over how to close the door on the
debacle. FERC has approved refunds of about \$3.3 billion for
overcharging by energy companies after finding widespread market
manipulation by bankrupt energy trader Enron Corp.and others. The state
claims it is still owed about \$9 billion by suppliers. California
Attorney General Bill Lockyer said there is lingering potential for
energy companies to attempt the kinds of \"epidemic\" market
manipulation that FERC found in its investigation. FERC spokesman Bryan
Lee said the new report is \"a cheap political stunt\" that downplayed
the state\'s own errors in designing its market deregulation plan.
<http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/040413/utilities_california_1.html>

**FERC to Act on Power Grid Reliability Wed-Source**\
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Wednesday will
outline steps it can take to prevent a repeat of last summer\'s massive
power blackout, an agency source said on Tuesday. A policy statement set
to be unveiled at FERC commissioners\' regular meeting on Wednesday will
define the agency\'s role in \"assuring reliable grid operations and add
teeth to (industry) rules,\" according to an agency source familiar with
the document. The source spoke on condition of anonymity.
http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/040413/utilities_blackout_1.html

**U.S. Says Iraq Oil Output Could Survive Foreign Exodus**\
A possible exodus by foreign oil workers from Iraq in response to a
spate of kidnappings does not pose an immediate threat to the country\'s
oil production, Mike Stinson, oil chief in Iraq\'s U.S.-led
administration said on Tuesday. U.S., Russian, Italian and Japanese
civilians in Iraq have been targeted by insurgents as the U.S.-led
coalition attempts to quell resistance that flared up in Falluja and
other cities. <http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/040413/energy_iraq_1.html>

**Governors to Explore Energy Solutions** Governors from Western states
will gather with leaders from Mexico and Canada for a summit on how to
meet future energy needs in a region rich with natural resources, from
oil and natural gas to opportunities for wind, solar and geothermal
power. Touted as a \"North American Energy Summit\" by the Western
Governors\' Association, the three-day meeting opening Wednesday in
Albuquerque will bring together governmental and tribal leaders with
energy company executives, environmentalists, researchers and other
experts to consider an ambitious agenda of energy issues.
<http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/americas/04/12/western.energy.ap/index.html>

**Energy Prices**

+-------------------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+
|                               | **Latest  | **Week    | **Year     |
|                               | (4        | Ago**     | Ago**      |
|                               | /13/04)** |           |            |
+-------------------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+
| **CRUDE OIL**                 | 37.08     | 35.09     | 28.28      |
|                               |           |           |            |
| **West Texas Intermediate     |           |           |            |
| US**                          |           |           |            |
|                               |           |           |            |
| \$/Barrel                     |           |           |            |
+-------------------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+
| **NATURAL GAS**               | 5.92      | 5.70      | 5.28       |
|                               |           |           |            |
| **Henry Hub**                 |           |           |            |
|                               |           |           |            |
| \$/Million Btu                |           |           |            |
+-------------------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+

> Source: Reuters

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

[*http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/twip/twip.asp*](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*](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*](http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/ngw/ngupdate.asp)

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