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

**Office of Energy Assurance**

**ENERGY ASSURANCE DAILY**

**December 8, 2004**

**Electricity**

**FirstEnergy\'s New Jersey Utility Union Goes on Strike\
**FirstEnergy Corp. said about 1,350 workers at its Jersey Central Power
& Light utility, the state\'s second largest, went on strike early
today. \`\`Our customers should see no difference in service,\'\' Ron
Morano, a spokesman for the Morristown, New Jersey-based utility, said
today. The strike began after the existing union contract expired at
midnight. Non-union employees will perform tasks normally performed by
members of the striking union, the International Brotherhood of
Electrical Workers, Morano said. Bloomberg News, 1525 December 8, 2004

**Update \-- Catawba 1 Nuke Up to 100% Power\
**Bloomberg News, 0737 December 8, 2004

**AES's 495 MW Alamitos 6 Gas-fired Plant in CA Shutdown**

Reuters, 1429 December 8, 2004

**Duke's 260 MW Moss Landing 1 Gas-fired Plant in CA Shutdown**

Reuters, 1429 December 8, 2004

**FPL's Turkey Point 3 Nuke Reduces Power for Repair**

In Florida, FPL reduced power at its Turkey Point 3 nuke to fix a
condenser tube leak on the secondary, non-nuclear side of the plant. A
plant spokeswoman said the company did not expect to reduce the unit
much below about 60 percent of capacity for the repairs, which should
not take a long time to complete.

Reuters, 1320 December 8, 2004

**DTE's Fermi Nuke in Michigan Ramps Up Power**

In Michigan, DTE\'s Fermi nuke ramped up to 51 percent of capacity by
early Wednesday after exiting an outage earlier in the week due to a
voltage regulator trip. The unit shut on about Dec. 4.\
Reuters, 1320 December 8, 2004

**OPG\'s Nanticoke 6 Coal-fired Unit in Ontario Returns to Service**

Reuters, 1320 December 8, 2004

**OPG's 840 MW Bruce 6 Nuke Unit Shutdown on Wednesday**

Reuters, 1320 December 8, 2004

**NorthWestern Energy Receives Go-Ahead on Transmission Line\
**NorthWestern Corporation d/b/a NorthWestern Energy has received
approval to begin construction on a new \$12.5 million 161,000 volt
electric transmission line serving the Gallatin Valley. The Montana
Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has notified the company that
it has satisfied the requirements necessary to begin construction.
[http://powermarketers.netcontentinc.net/newsreader.asp?ppa=8knpp%5EZkpqpqor%5BSkiw11rbfej%5B%21](http://powermarketers.netcontentinc.net/newsreader.asp?ppa=8knpp^Zkpqpqor%5BSkiw11rbfej%5B!)

**Petroleum**

**Sunoco Refinery Ups Runs**

Sunoco's 330,000 b/d Philadelphia refinery, which was processing crude
oil at a reduced rate following crude-shipment delays caused by a Nov.
26 oil spill on the Delaware River, is "out of the woods," a source
close to the refinery's operations told Dow Jones News.\
Oil Daily, December 8, 2004

# 

**Possibility of OPEC Production Cut Grows**\
The possibility of a cut in OPEC production grew stronger Wednesday
after the oil minister of heavyweight Saudi Arabia indicated he was
aware of majority sentiment in favor of a reduction.
<http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041208/ap_on_bi_ge/opec_meeting_19>

**Nigerian Protesters Threaten to Block More Oil**

Protesters who halted 120,000 barrels of Nigeria\'s daily oil output
threatened on Wednesday to shut another 100,000 barrels by next week
unless their demands for jobs and development were addressed. Hundreds
of Kula residents seized three oil platforms operated by Royal
Dutch/Shell and ChevronTexaco on Sunday, hitting oil output and trapping
more than 100 workers. They left the installations on Tuesday after
assurances that they would not be restarted until their grievances were
addressed.\
Reuters, 1245 December 8, 2004

# Natural Gas

**Dominion Puts Fifth Tank in Service at Cove Point, Increasing LNG
Storage to 7.8 Billion Cubic Feet**\
Dominion has placed a new liquefied natural gas storage tank in service
at Dominion Cove Point in Maryland, increasing on-site storage from the
equivalent of 5 billion cubic feet to 7.8 billion cubic feet of natural
gas. The new tank holds 135,000 cubic meters of LNG, which is
approximately equivalent to 2.8 billion cubic feet of natural gas.\
<http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/041208/clw013_1.html>

**Other News**

Nothing to report.

**Energy Prices**

+-------------------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+
|                               | **Latest  | **Week    | **Year     |
|                               | (12       | Ago**     | Ago**      |
|                               | /08/04)** |           |            |
+-------------------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+
| **CRUDE OIL**                 | 41.96     | 45.56     | 32.08      |
|                               |           |           |            |
| **West Texas Intermediate     |           |           |            |
| US**                          |           |           |            |
|                               |           |           |            |
| \$/Barrel                     |           |           |            |
+-------------------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+
| **NATURAL GAS**               | 5.98      | 6.78      | 6.06       |
|                               |           |           |            |
| **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