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

**Office of Energy Assurance**

**ENERGY ASSURANCE DAILY**

###### April 1, 2004

**Electricity**

**Update - FPL Sees No Impact to Refuel from Leak at Fla. Nuke**\
FPL Group Inc. said Thursday it did not expect a leak at the 850
megawatt Saint Lucie 1 nuclear unit in Florida to delay the plant\'s
ongoing refueling outage. On March 31, FPL declared an unusual event,
the lowest of four levels of emergency classification used by the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, following a leak of greater than 10
gallons per minute in the reactor coolant system. The leak did not pose
any danger to the health of plant workers, the public or the
environment, a spokeswoman for FPL\'s nuclear plants said. \"The leak
was fully contained by the containment system. As soon as we identified
the problem, we fixed it. The event lasted less than an hour,\" Scott
said. <http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/040401/utilities_fpl_saintlucie_1.html>

#### Calvert Cliffs 1 Nuclear-Power Plant at 100%, Company Says

Constellation Energy Group's Calvert Cliff's 850 MW nuclear unit
returned to full power yesterday following maintenance to repair an
auto-trip safety switch

Bloomberg News 1025 April 1, 2004

#### Quad Cities 2 Nuclear-Power Plant at 71%, Company Says

Exelon Nuclear's Quad Cities 2 nuclear unit is resuming full power after
repairs to a turbine circuit board.

Bloomberg News April 1, 2004

#### Davis Besse 1 Nuclear-Power Plant at 80%, Company Says

FirstEnergy's 935 MW Davis-Besse nuclear unit 1 was at 20% power
yesterday is expected to be at full power by the end of the day.

Bloomberg News 0819 April 1, 2004

**NERC considering push for stand-alone reliability bill**

With a broad energy bill stalled in Congress, the North American
Electric Reliability Council is considering whether to push for
stand-alone legislation focusing on reliability issues, Michehl Gent,
president and CEO of NERC, said Thursday. NERC recommended that training
focus on dealing with emergency situations, and some grid operator
training systems are focused on day-to-day operations and they are
loathe to change their systems, Gent said.

[http://www.platts.com/Electric%20Power/News/6355757.xml?S=n](http://www.platts.com/Electric Power/News/6355757.xml?S=n)

**SCADA Security Hearing began Tuesday** Last summer\'s massive blackout
in the Northeast demonstrated the vulnerability of our nation\'s most
critical networks. It also set in motion an inquiry that today, March
30, brings together legislators and IT experts to discuss how to better
secure these networks from further disaster. Supervisory Control and
Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems, associated with power plants and other
mission-critical networks, especially need stronger protection.
\"Historically, there is a false sense of security related to SCADA
systems. Some administrators have been comforted by the thought that
these systems are specialized and often deployed in a \'closed\' network
utilizing proprietary protocols,\" explains Andre Yee, president and CEO
of a network security vendor. One problem with securing SCADA is the
unique nature of the systems. Most operate in real time and can\'t
afford to be offline for lengthy upgrades or security installations, for
fear of a degradation of performance. Another problem, Yee notes, is
with newer SCADA systems incorporating more Web accessibility, which
poses myriad problems when using the Internet, a public conduit
susceptible to attack. They also leverage Unix and Windows systems,
which puts networks at risk, particularly given the number of
vulnerabilities that can be exploited.\
[http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,28914
2,sid14_gci957331,00.html](http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid14_gci957331,00.html)

#### Petroleum

**Update - BP\'s Texas City Refinery \`Near Normal\' After Fire**

BP Plc said its Texas City, Texas, plant, the third-biggest refinery in
the U.S., is operating at \`\`near normal levels\'\' after a fire
Tuesday damaged a gasoline production unit, a company spokesman said.
The fire at BP\'s largest refinery, 30 miles south of Houston, caused
gasoline prices to rise to their highest since unleaded gasoline futures
first traded on Nymex. Prices fell after the fire in a reformer unit,
used to increase octane, was put out and the refinery continued
operating. \`\`We had a team working overnight trying to make sure all
the material from the fire had been cleared away,\'\' said Hugh Depland,
a BP spokesman in Houston. \`\`There is still some work to do in terms
of investigation. There was no maintenance being performed at the
facility when it happened.\'\' BP said the fire wasn\'t linked to
terrorism. The Federal

Bureau of Investigation on March 25 said terrorists may attack
refineries in Texas.

Bloomberg News April 1, 2004

#### 

**U.S. Mulling Some Clean Gasoline Waivers-Abraham**

The Bush administration is \"seriously considering\" requests by three
states for temporary exemptions to cleaner-burning gasoline requirements
that have likely contributed to higher gasoline prices, Energy Secretary
Spencer Abraham said on Thursday. California, New York and Connecticut
have asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to waive
requirements for specially blended gasoline this summer because the
states have not met federal air pollution guidelines. The three states
have all asked the EPA to grant temporary exemptions to the oxygenate
mandate, citing the fact that the special requirements make gasoline
more expensive. \"It\'s my understanding that EPA is seriously
considering looking at this request,\" Abraham told the House Energy and
Commerce Committee during a hearing on the Energy Department\'s budget.

Reuters 1347 April 1, 2004

**UPDATE - Bush Mulls \"Short-term\" Fix to Gasoline Prices**\
The Bush administration is looking at possible \"short-term\" fixes to
address record-high retail gasoline prices, Kyle McSlarrow, the Energy
Department deputy secretary, said on Wednesday.
<http://biz.yahoo.com/rm/040331/energy_bush_gasoline_2.html>

**Oil Drops, U.S. Revisits Gasoline Rules**\
U.S. oil prices fell about 4 percent on Thursday after the U.S. energy
secretary said the Bush administration is considering relaxing
clean-burning gasoline regulations in three states. The pump prices for
gasoline may fall if rules are relaxed in California, New York and
Connecticut, which have asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) to waive requirements for specially blended gasoline this summer
because the states have not met federal air pollution guidelines.
<http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/040401/markets_oil_2.html>

#### Natural Gas 

Nothing to report.

####### Other

#### Mexico Increases Role as Supplier of Jet Fuel

Mexico's ongoing refinery upgrades are increasing the country's profile
as a jet fuel exporter. After years of sporadic exports, Mexican jet
cargoes now show up regularly in the Los Angeles and Florida markets.

More consistent Mexican jet exports should help dampen frequent price
spikes on the US West Coast.

Oil Daily, April 1, 2004

**East Siberian Region Okays Plan to Build Oil Export Line to Pacific**

Russian state pipeline operator Transneft\'s plan to build a \$10-bil
export pipeline capable of carrying up to 80-mil mt/y (1.6-mil b/d) of
crude to an oil terminal on the Pacific has won approval from East
Siberia\'s Irkutsk region, Prime Tass reported Wednesday.

<http://www.platts.com/Oil/News/4077859.xml?S=n>

#### OPEC May Raise Basket Price by \$3 Due to Weak U.S. Dollar

OPEC officially aims to keep its so-called basket price between \$22 and
\$28 a barrel. Prices have been above \$28 a barrel since Dec. 1. The
group\'s benchmark price is based on seven crude-oil grades. Nigeria
joined Venezuela in suggesting OPEC consider raising its official price
target by as much as \$3 a barrel to make up for the weakening of the
dollar. OPEC members have said the dollar\'s drop against the euro in
the past year justifies prices at the upper end of the group\'s target
range because it hurts oil

exporters\' purchasing power.

Bloomberg News 1326 April 1, 2004

**UPDATE - No wrongdoing in New England natgas market-FERC**\
New England power generators did not improperly sell natural gas needed
to generate electricity on one of the coldest days in the region\'s
history, the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) said on
Thursday. Connecticut state officials asked the FERC to investigate
whether generators illegally sold natural gas supplies on Jan. 15, when
an arctic cold snap sent temperatures plummeting and power use set a
seasonal record. After a formal investigation, FERC said in a
preliminary report that New England generators broke no rules. \"The
preliminary finding here is that the generators followed the rules\" of
the regional grid operator, said Bob Flanders, a FERC investigator.
Winter demand hit an all-time high on the New England regional power
grid on Jan. 15, prompting its operator to warn of possible rolling
blackouts \-- a step that was not taken. Connecticut Attorney General
Richard Blumenthal said generators may have sold their natural gas
supplies at a profit rather than use it for their gas-burning generating
plants to keep up with demand.
<http://biz.yahoo.com/rm/040401/utilities_newengland_2.html>

**Energy Prices**

+-------------------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+
|                               | **Latest  | **Week    | **Year     |
|                               | (         | Ago**     | Ago**      |
|                               | 4/1/04)** |           |            |
+-------------------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+
| **CRUDE OIL**                 | 34.47     | 37.04     | 29.48      |
|                               |           |           |            |
| **West Texas Intermediate     |           |           |            |
| US**                          |           |           |            |
|                               |           |           |            |
| \$/Barrel                     |           |           |            |
+-------------------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+
| **NATURAL GAS**               | 5.82      | 5.35      | 4.90       |
|                               |           |           |            |
| **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