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

**Office of Electricity Delivery and\
Energy Reliability**

**ENERGY ASSURANCE DAILY**

**December 5, 2005**

## Highlights/Major Developments

**Update: Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma**

For damage assessment and restoration efforts concerning hurricanes, see
the Gulf Coast Hurricanes situation reports from the Office of
Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (OE) of the U.S. Department
of Energy @
[[http://www.oe.netl.doe.gov]{.underline}](http://www.oe.netl.doe.gov/).
For the latest statistics on shut-in oil and gas production in the Gulf
of Mexico, please click on the following link:
[http://www.mms.gov](http://www.mms.gov/ooc/press/2005/press1118.htm)

For the latest statistics on shut-in oil and gas production and pipeline
status in Louisiana, please click on the following link:
<http://dnr.louisiana.gov/sec/execdiv/pubinfo/daily-onshore-prod.ssi>

######## Electricity

Simulated Emergency at Indian Point Nuclear Generating Station Appears
to Go Well

A simulated release of radioactive coolant water provided the test
scenario at the Indian Point nuclear generating station on November 30.
The test appears to have gone well although the official assessment will
not be made public until all of the data are collected and analyzed by
the New York State Emergency Office.

Source: The Journal News, December 1, 2005.

[**http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051201/NEWS09/512010341/1025**](http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051201/NEWS09/512010341/1025)

600 MW Coal-fired Plant Proposed

LS Power Development announced that it plans to construct a 600 MW
coal-fired power plant in Waterloo, Iowa. The company plans that
construction will begin in 2007, with completion anticipated in 2011.

<http://pro.energycentral.com/professional/news/power/news_article.cfm?id=6133057>

### San Antonio Shutting JK Spruce for Repairs

San Antonio city Public service is shutting its coal-fired unit from
December 2 to December 7 in order to perform repairs on a heater bypass
and a leaking tube.

Reuters 16:41, December 2, 2005.

### OPG's 494 MW Unit 4 at its Lambton Power Plant in Ontario shut December 2

Reuters 16:26, December 2, 2005

### Update: Millstone 3 Exits Outage, Ramps Up to 47 Percent of Capacity

Unit 3 of Dominion's Millstone nuclear generating station in Connecticut
exited an outage and had ramped up to 47 percent of capacity by early
morning on December 5. The unit automatically shut down on December 1
while operators were investigating a small coolant leak.

Reuters 16:14, December 5, 2005.

### Update: Kewaunee Returns to Full Power

Dominion's Kewaunee nuclear generating station in Wisconsin returned to
full output following an outage that began on November 28 when the unit
automatically shut, due to a problem with a main feed pump.

Reuters 16:14, December 5, 2005.

**Update:** **OPG's 515 MW Unit 4 at its Pickering Nuclear Generating
Station in Ontario Returns to Service December 5**

Reuters 16:14, December 5, 2005.

**OPG's Unit 2 at its Coal-fired Lambton Generating Station in Ontario
Returns to Service December 5**

Reuters 16:14, December 5, 2005.

######## Petroleum

**Explosion and Fire Shut Major Pipeline to PDVSA's Amuay Refinery**

On December 3 an explosion and fire shut a pipeline that supplies
PDVSA's Amuay refinery with approximately 400,000 b/d of crude oil. The
energy Minister accused anti-government groups of attempting to shut
down the refinery and disrupt elections for the explosion. Officials
estimate that the line will return to service in two to five days.
Consequently, they do not anticipate an interruption to production since
the refinery maintains a five-day supply of crude on-site.

**Update:** the following headline came through with no details from
Reuters at 16:40, December 5, 2005:

# Two Pipelines Carrying 400,000 Bpd To Venezuela\'s Amuay Plant Repaired After Explosion-PDVSA

Reuters 23:46, December 3, 2005

Bloomberg 17:51, December 4, 2005.

<http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000086&sid=awGiZT3K0kJ0&refer=latin_america>

Platts: <http://www.platts.com/Oil/News/9335061.xml?S=n>

**Restart of Gasoline Production at BP's Texas City Refinery Delayed**

BP announced that the restart of gasoline production at its 460,000 b/d
Texas City refinery is likely delayed beyond the middle of December due
to the extensive nature of the repairs needed from the damage caused by
Hurricane Rita. BP indicated that some 160,000 hours of work that
included replacing of 2,500 valves and 27 miles of steam lines have
delayed the restart of the steam system and that will impact the restart
of the fuel product lines beyond the earlier estimate.

Reuters 10:43, December 5, 2005.

### BHP Billiton Warns of Possible Delay for Atlantis Project

In a briefing to financial analysts on December 2, the president of BHP
Billiton warned that availability of equipment and personnel could delay
the company's \$1.1 billion Atlantis development on the Gulf of Mexico.
Analysts also believe that Billiton may write off its interest in the
Typhoon oil and gas platform that broke its moorings and sustained
damage from Hurricane Rita.

Reuters 16:44, December 4, 2005.

**Murphy Restarts Production from Medusa**

Murphy announced that production at its hurricane-damaged Medusa field
had been restarted. Output from the field is expected to quickly return
to the pre-storm level of 35,000 b/d.

Reuters 16:12, December 5, 2005.

######## Natural Gas

Nothing to Report.

######## Other News

Nothing to Report.

######## Energy Prices 

+-------------------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+
|                               | **Latest  | **Week    | **Year     |
|                               | (12       | Ago**     | Ago**      |
|                               | /05/05)** |           |            |
+-------------------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+
| **CRUDE OIL**                 | 59.91     | 57.36     | 42.96      |
|                               |           |           |            |
| **West Texas Intermediate     |           |           |            |
| US**                          |           |           |            |
|                               |           |           |            |
| \$/Barrel                     |           |           |            |
+-------------------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+
| **NATURAL GAS**               | 14.27     | 11.01     | 6.05       |
|                               |           |           |            |
| **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 1:00 pm (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*