![](media/image1.jpeg){width="8.5in" height="3.5027777777777778in"}U.S.
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

**Office of Energy Assurance**

**ENERGY ASSURANCE DAILY**

###### August 10, 2004

**Highlights/Major Developments**

**Shell Shuts Some Production, Evacuates 500 as Storm Approaches**

Royal Dutch/Shell Group is evacuating about 500 non-essential workers
from rigs in the Gulf of Mexico and is shutting in some oil and
natural-gas production as a tropical storm moves through the region, a
spokeswoman said. The company halted daily production of 49,000 barrels
of oil and 80 million cubic feet of gas at its Princess and Crosby
fields as Tropical Storm Bonnie headed into the region. "We began to
evacuate approximately 500 non-essential people from the Gulf of
Mexico," Helen Bow said. The Princess and Crosby fields are about 150
miles southeast of New Orleans. Crosby is in 4,400 feet of water.

Bloomberg, August 10, 2004

**Exxon Preps for US Gulf Storm, No Evacuations Yet**

Exxon Mobil Corp. stopped sending nonessential workers to the Gulf of
Mexico as a pair of tropical storms approach, but has not shut in
production or removed workers already there. Exxon spokesman Bob Davis
said. Tropical Storm Bonnie's center at 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT) was about
350 miles (560 km) south-southwest of the mouth of the Mississippi
River, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. It was moving at
about 8 mph (13 kph) toward the northwest in the Gulf of Mexico, with
sustained winds of 60 mph (95 kph), and was expected to turn northeast
later Tuesday. Tropical Storm Charley was born in the Caribbean on
Tuesday. Forecasts had it moving into the Gulf of Mexico late Friday or
early Saturday.

Reuters, August 10, 2004, 1254

<http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/040810/energy_exxon_storm_1.html>

**Anadarko Removes Rig Crew in US Gulf Ahead of Storm**

Anadarko Petroleum Corp is removing rig crew at the Marco Polo field in
the U.S. Gulf ahead of storms, a spokeswoman said Tuesday. "Were
removing the rig crew. But production crew at Marco Polo will remain.
Production will not be affected by the removal. The rig crew is
ancillary to production." She also said she did not immediately know how
many workers were in the rig crew. The spokeswoman said Anadarko would
decide on Wednesday whether more workers would be taken in from the
Gulf.

Reuters, August 10, 2004, 1148

**Marathon Evacuates Nonessential Workers at U.S. Gulf Platforms**

Marathon Oil Corp. evacuated about 12 nonessential workers from
platforms in its Gulf of Mexico East Cameron and Vermillion regions amid
concern over the approach of Tropical Storm Bonnie.

"Production has not been affected at this point," said Paul Weeditz, a
spokesman for Marathon. Bonnie is expected to make landfall in northwest
Florida on Thursday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on its Web
site.

Bloomberg, August 10, 2004

#### 

#### U.S. Gulf Natural Gas Pipelines See No Storm Impact Yet

Several U.S. Gulf of Mexico pipeline operators said Tuesday that
Tropical Storm Bonnie, located about 350 miles south of Louisiana, had
not yet forced any producers to cut natural gas supplies from their
systems. "We've posted a critical notice on our bulletin board telling
everyone were monitoring the storms, but were not aware of any shut ins,
and the system is operating just fine," a spokeswoman for Florida Gas
Transmission told Reuters. Offshore producers usually evacuate drilling
platforms and shut in some oil and gas output as a precaution against a
severe storm.

Reuters, August 10, 2004

<http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/040810/energy_storm_natgas_1.html>

**Electricity**

# 

**California's Power Grid Manager Issues Warning**

California's power grid manager has issued a power watch, urging
residents to cut back their electricity usage. There was little
immediate danger of blackouts, spokesperson Stephanie McCorkle said
Sunday, August 8. "It's a way of letting people know when supplies are
tight. "McCorkle said as temperatures climb into triple digits,
consumers should reduce usage, particularly from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
through Wednesday, August 11. Demand may reach 44,700 megawatts,
surpassing the one-day record usage of 44,360 megawatts set July 21,
when the last power watch was issued, McCorkle said. The state's
Independent System Operator manages much of California's power grid.

Associated Press, August 9, 2004

<http://www.sacbee.com/state_wire/story/10301378p-11221504c.html>

**Two Units Back at California La Paloma Power Plant**

Two units at the 1,121 megawatt La Paloma natural gas-fired power plant
in California returned to service by early Tuesday, adding much needed
electric supply to the state grid during a time of high demand because
of hot weather, according to a report by the California ISO. The ISO
said the 259 MW unit 1 and 234 MW unit 2 returned to service overnight
at La Paloma. Meanwhile, the plants 231 MW unit 3 and 235 MW unit 4
remained shut for unplanned outages begun during the day on Monday. All
of the units had been operating Monday morning. Officials at DTE Energy
Services, a subsidiary of Detroit, Michigan-based energy company DTE
Energy, which operates La Paloma, could not immediately comment on the
outage. The La Paloma station is located near Bakersfield, about 110
miles (180 km) north of Los Angeles.

Reuters, August 10, 2004, 1038

<http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/040810/utilities_dte_lapaloma_4.html>

**TXUs Texas Sandow 4 Power Plant Seen Back Tuesday**

TXU Corp.'s 545-megawatt Sandow 4 coal-fired power unit in Texas was
expected to restart early Tuesday following a brief repair outage, Texas
regulators said. In a report, the regulators said the unit would shut
Monday night to repair a tube leak. The unit was expected to restart
early yesterday. A spokeswoman at TXU said the company could confirm the
regulatory report, but could not discuss the unit's status due to
competitive reasons. The Sandow station is located in Rockdale in Milam
County about 130 miles northwest of Houston.

Reuters, August 10, 2004, 1008

<http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/040810/utilities_txu_sandow_2.html>

**Petroleum**

**Shell to Shut Down Mars Platform for About Two Weeks, Repair
Pipelines**

Shell Exploration & Production Co., the discovery and development arm of
oil and natural gas giant Royal Dutch/Shell Group, said Tuesday that it
will shut down the Mars tension leg platform for about two weeks,
starting Nov. 4, to replace flexjoints on its Mississippi oil and
natural gas lines. Shell discovered damage to the oil pipeline flexjoint
on May 22, and subsequent inspections of the natural gas line also
showed signs of flexjoint deterioration. The company decided to make
temporary repairs to both lines while the flexjoints were refurbished.
Production resumed on June 28, when the company said that the platform
would be shut down again for installation of the repaired flexjoints.
Although the flexjoints should be ready for installation in September,
the company will delay the operation until early November for logistical
reasons.

"We feel that the weather conditions at that time will be more conducive
to efficiently and safely completing the operations," said Frank
Glaviano, Gulf of Mexico east asset manager.

[*http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/040810/shell_pipeline_shutdown_1.html*](http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/040810/shell_pipeline_shutdown_1.html)

# 

# Natural Gas

See related articles in Highlights/Major Developments above.

**Other**

Nothing to report.

**Energy Prices**

+-------------------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+
|                               | **Latest  | **Week    | **Year     |
|                               | (8        | Ago**     | Ago**      |
|                               | /10/04)** |           |            |
+-------------------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+
| **CRUDE OIL**                 | 44.51     | 44.13     | 31.91      |
|                               |           |           |            |
| **West Texas Intermediate     |           |           |            |
| US**                          |           |           |            |
|                               |           |           |            |
| \$/Barrel                     |           |           |            |
+-------------------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+
| **NATURAL GAS**               | 5.78      | 5.77      | 5.08       |
|                               |           |           |            |
| **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