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

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

**ENERGY ASSURANCE DAILY**

**August 25, 2005**

## Highlights/Major Developments

**Tropical Storm Katrina Upgraded to Hurricane Status**

According to the latest information from the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), tropical storm Katrina has been
upgraded to hurricane status. Hurricane Katrina (Category 1) is bearing
down on the southeast coast of Florida with winds at 74 mph and its
center located about 35 miles east-northeast of Fort Lauderdale,
Florida. A hurricane warning remains in effect for the southeast Florida
Coast from Jupiter Inlet southward to Florida City, including Lake
Okeechobee.

<http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPAT2+shtml/251435.shtml>

**Shell Oil and BP Evacuate Workers**

Shell Oil and BP announced the evacuation of nonessential personnel in
preparation for Hurricane Katrina.

Reuters 15:29, August 25, 2005

## FP&L Preparing for Hurricane Katrina

Florida Power & Light Company is urging its customers to prepare for
extended power outages since Katrina is headed for areas with
significant electrical infrastructure exposure.

<http://www.energycentral.com/centers/news/daily/article.cfm?aid=5901455>

For additional stories on Hurricane Katrina see Petroleum and Natural
Gas

######## Electricity

Mirant Temporarily Shuts Alexandria, Virginia Plant to Comply with State
Environmental Order

Mirant has temporarily closed it 482 MW coal-fired Potomac River Power
Plant five days after being ordered by the Virginia Department of
Environmental Quality to meet air quality standards or close the
facility. Mirant shut down all five units at midnight Wednesday, August
24. A Mirant spokesman says the plant is working on a solution to the
problem but does not know when the plant will restart.

<http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-bz.md.mirant25aug25,1,6204223.story?coll=bal-local-headlines>

**Texas Power Grid Set New Record**

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), operator of the
state\'s electricity-transmission grid, reported a new record set for
electricity use at about 4 p.m. Tuesday. With temperatures above 100 and
the heavy use of air conditioners, customers used about 60,279 megawatts
of electricity.

<http://www.energycentral.com/centers/news/daily/article.cfm?aid=5901363>

### Texas Genco's 610-MW WA Parish 8 Unit to Restart August 25

Texas Genco LLC confirmed that it would restart its 610-megawatt
coal/gas fired Unit 8 at the WA Parish power station in Fort Bend
County, Texas. The unit had been shut to perform unplanned repairs, it
is expected to be back in service on Thursday, August 25.

Reuters 9:18, August 25, 2005

**Browns Ferry-1 Nuke in Alabama Slated to Restart in 2007**

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) reports that efforts to restart its
Browns Ferry-1 boiling water reactor, which has been shut since 1985,
were 65% complete as of June 30. The project is on schedule for
completion in 2007.

<http://www.platts.com/Nuclear/News/6061765.xml?S=n>

### NRG/Dynegy's 335 MW Gas-fired El Segundo 3 Unit Shut August 25, 2005

Reuters 15:45, August 25, 2005

### Dresden 3 Nuclear Power Plant at 75 Percent August 25

Bloomberg, 7:55 August 25, 2005

######## Petroleum

### Fire at Golden Eagle Refinery in California Shuts FCC Unit 

A fire at Tesoro's 168,000 b/d Golden Eagle refinery in California has
damaged the 70,000 b/d fluid catalytic cracking unit. According to the
company, no schedule for the repairs has been set.

OPIS price Watch Alert, 14:44, August 25, 2005.

Reuters 17:48, August 25, 2005

Bloomberg 11:14, August 25, 2005

### Hurricane Katrina Not Likely to Impact Oil and Gas Production

Hurricane Katrina is expected to continue along the southeastern Florida
coast, missing most offshore production, which lies west of the storm's
current path.

Bloomberg 14:39, August 25, 2005

Bloomberg 16:21, August 25, 2005

# Katrina Boosts Crude Oil to Another Record on NYMEX

Despite forecasts that indicate that the storm will not cause
significant disruption to oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico,
as concern about tropical storm Katrina became concern about hurricane
Katrina, crude oil prices shot up to \$68 during the day before closing
at a still record setting price of \$67.49.

Bloomberg 16:24, August 24, 2005

Reuters 15:29, August 25, 2005

### Shell Oil-Pemex 340,000 BPD Refinery at Deer Park, Texas, Running Normally

Oil markets on the New York Mercantile Exchange were active Thursday
morning with word that the refinery was having problems.

Reuters 14:21, August 25, 2005

**Natural Gas**

# Gas Prices Slide From Record High Despite Katrina 

Forecasts that hurricane Katrina would miss major oil and gas production
areas in the Gulf of Mexico did not stop oil prices hitting a new
record, but they apparently did help the futures price of benchmark
Henry Hub natural gas to drop by more than 20¢ from the record set on
August 24. The price on NYMEX closed at \$9.77.

Bloomberg 15:07, August 25, 2005.

######## Other News

Nothing to Report

######## Energy Prices 

+-------------------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+
|                               | **Latest  | **Week    | **Year     |
|                               | (08       | Ago**     | Ago**      |
|                               | /25/05)** |           |            |
+-------------------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+
| **CRUDE OIL**                 | 67.29     | 63.47     | 43.83      |
|                               |           |           |            |
| **West Texas Intermediate     |           |           |            |
| US**                          |           |           |            |
|                               |           |           |            |
| \$/Barrel                     |           |           |            |
+-------------------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+
| **NATURAL GAS**               | 9.77      | 9.38      | 5.32       |
|                               |           |           |            |
| **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

**ENSEC threat awareness blog site** from Energy Assurance

[*http://ensec.blogspot.com*](http://ensec.blogspot.com/)