![](media/image1.jpeg){width="8.75in" height="3.6055555555555556in"}U.S.
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

**Office of Energy Assurance**

**ENERGY ASSURANCE DAILY**

###### June 1, 2004

**Electricity**

**Deadly storms sweep central U.S.**

Severe weather that brought 84 tornado sightings across eight states
Sunday was responsible for three deaths, taking the death toll from the
weekend storms to eight, officials said Monday. A powerful band of
severe storms stretched from Texas to the Great Lakes, sweeping eastward
from Missouri to Kentucky, smashing homes and downing trees and power
lines, authorities said. Heavy rain pounded parts of the East on Monday,
but there were no tornadoes or tornado warnings. Indiana Emergency
Management Agency spokesman Alden Taylor said About 13,000 people on the
south side of Indianapolis lost power; by Monday morning less than half
had power restored.

CNN Monday, May 31, 2004 Posted: 5:45 PM EDT (2145 GMT)

**Power plants face tougher mercury restrictions**

Massachusetts will have the nation\'s most stringent limits on mercury
emissions from power plants, the governor\'s office announced yesterday.
State environmental groups heralded the announcement, saying the final
regulations were stricter than the draft plans issued last fall. The new
regulations require the state\'s four coal-burning power plants,
including two in Somerset, to reduce their mercury emissions by 75
percent by 2010, and nearly eliminate mercury releases over the long
term.

May 27, 2004 - Providence Journal Bulletin Author(s): Jessica
Resnick-Ault, Journal Staff Writer

[http://powermarketers.netcontentinc.net/newsreader.asp?ppa=8knpp%5EZimplkrpTUnj%216C%29bfej%5Bv](http://powermarketers.netcontentinc.net/newsreader.asp?ppa=8knpp^ZimplkrpTUnj!6C)bfej%5Bv)

**Brunswick 1 Nuclear Plant Operating at Full Power**

Progress Energy Inc.\'s 872 megawatt Brunswick 1 nuclear unit in North
Carolina returned to full power by early Tuesday, according to the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission's status report. On Friday, the unit was
operating at 68 percent of capacity. Meanwhile, the adjacent 880 MW unit
2 was cut to 70 percent of capacity down from 96 percent on Friday.

Reuters, June 1, 2004.

Bloomberg 14:09 June 1, 2004

**Dominion Surry 2 Operating at Full Power**

The Surry 2 Nuclear Plant of Dominion Power is reported to be operating
at full power.

Bloomberg, News, 15.26 June 1, 2004

####### Petroleum

**U.S. Oil Stocks Drop as Oil Prices Reach Record High**

NYMEX crude futures rose by about 5 percent at midday on Tuesday, having
surged to a record \$42.00 a barrel, as trading resumed after a holiday
weekend. Sources attributed the price surge to concerns of potential
supply disruption in the Middle East, following the weekend attacks by
militants in Saudi Arabia which killed 22 people, including 19
foreigners, in compounds housing oil workers. OPEC\'s effort to calm the
market continued as a senior OPEC delegate said the cartel would
increase production by about 1 million barrels per day (bpd) of actual
extra supply in a deal under negotiation to raise formal quota limits by
up to 2.5 million bpd.

Reuters, June 1, 2004

**[Iraq Keeps Premium On Oil
Prices](http://www.energyintel.com/DocumentDetail.asp?document_id=122691)\
**Instead of creating a more stable oil market, has the Iraq war had the
opposite result, and introduced a state of institutionalized paranoia?
Suggestions that the Iraq war was all about oil \-- a land grab for Big
Oil \-- were always simplistic, even nonsensical. But if all had gone to
plan, the invasion was supposed to create a much safer world for oil
consumers, and by extension the oil business. It has had the opposite
effect. (Monday, May 31, 2004)

Petroleum Intelligence Weekly, May 31, 2004

**[[Saudi Offer Starts To Cool Price
Fever](http://www.energyintel.com/DocumentDetail.asp?document_id=122793)\
]{.underline}**Opec seems to have been right all along: the runaway oil
price is not the result of a lack of crude oil. As frantic efforts to
talk down the oil price reached their zenith last week, with top
producer Saudi Arabia offering to turn on its full capacity if it\'s
needed, US oil prices first shot to a new record high before shedding
some \$3 per barrel on May 27.

Petroleum Intelligence Weekly, May 31, 2004

**[[United States: Decides Against Using
SPR](http://www.energyintel.com/DocumentDetail.asp?document_id=122806)\
]{.underline}**As high gasoline prices begin to hit Americans where it
hurts, some lawmakers are urging the administration to stop filling the
SPR. President Bush has refused, citing terrorism concerns, as has
Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham. So what do they know that we don\'t?)

Energy Compass, May 28, 2004

**[[Shippers Struggle to Meet Security
Deadline](http://www.energyintel.com/DocumentDetail.asp?document_id=122960)\
]{.underline}**The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has warned
its members to expect disruptions when a new security code comes into
effect on Jul. 1. It warned that the deadline could not legally be
moved, despite mounting evidence that only a fraction of the world\'s
shipping fleet and its harbors would be issued with the necessary
certificates in time.

International Oil Daily, June 1, 2004

Natural Gas

**[Bullish Summer Outlook Leads To Record June Nymex
Close](http://www.energyintel.com/DocumentDetail.asp?document_id=123011)\
**Will \$6.70/MMBtu gas break the back of some manufacturers? Industrial
end-users on the Gulf Coast will be paying for baseload gas at that
price level over the next month and over \$7 in the Northeast after
record-high June bid-week pricing. The demand response \-- or lack
thereof \-- will provide a good indicator of the sustainability of
current pricing through the summer.

Natural Gas Week, May 31, 2004

**Westcoast Energy Restricts Shippers**

On Friday, Westcoast Energy began restricting shippers from taking any
additional gas above the volumes nominated because of concerns over an
expected large drop in line pack. Westcoast is allowing shippers to ship
up to a 120 percent of their nominated volumes. Westcoast also announced
that should line pack continue to drop, they will reduce deliveries to
force shippers into balance.

Bloomberg, 18:01 May 28, 2004

####### 

####### 

####### Other

Nothing to report.

**Energy Prices**

+-------------------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+
|                               | **Latest  | **Week    | **Year     |
|                               | (5        | Ago**     | Ago**      |
|                               | /28/04)** |           |            |
+-------------------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+
| **CRUDE OIL**                 | 42.33     | 41.45     | 30.72      |
|                               |           |           |            |
| **West Texas Intermediate     |           |           |            |
| US**                          |           |           |            |
|                               |           |           |            |
| \$/Barrel                     |           |           |            |
+-------------------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+
| **NATURAL GAS**               | 6.45      | 6.73      | 6.22       |
|                               |           |           |            |
| **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