Industries

Lower natural gas prices and the approach of the spring planting season have prompted Terra Industries to plan the restart of ammonia production on March 1 at its plants in Yazoo City, MS, and Billingham, Teesside, UK.

The Department of Energy (DOE) is organizing a two-day forum in Mississippi of federal, state and local government officials and representatives from the natural gas and electricity industries to review the progress that has been made in restoring the Gulf Coast energy infrastructure four months after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck. Participants also will revisit a hurricane scenario based on the 2005 hurricane season and discuss response actions, review lessons learned and identify actions for future improvements in the energy sector, the DOE said. The session will be held at the Grand Convention Center and Resort in Tunica, MS, on Jan. 19-20. Reservations can be made by calling 1-800 394-7263. For further information, send an e-mail to DOELeadershipForum@sra.com.

Leading fertilizer producer Terra Industries said effective Jan. 1, it will suspend ammonia production at its Yazoo City, MS, facility because of high natural gas costs. The closure is the second U.S. closure by Terra in the past month. In late November, it suspended all production at its Woodward, OK, facility for the same reason (see Daily GPI, Nov. 22).

Top fertilizer manufacturer Terra Industries Inc. has indefinitely suspended all production at its Woodward, OK plant in the near term because of high natural gas costs. The shutdown is due to mechanical repairs and catalyst changes, but Terra will not resume production in the near term because the gas costs haven’t been offset by price increases in nitrogen products and methanol, the company said.

As natural gas prices continue to maintain their lofty levels, industries that use the commodity as a feedstock are finding it increasingly more difficult to conduct business as usual. As one of the largest energy users in Ohio, steel producers in the state said Thursday that they have grave concerns over natural gas prices, which have increased 400% in five years. In the most recent price run-up, the steel companies say that natural gas costs per ton of steel produced have tripled.

Topeka, KS-based Western Resources Inc. said it is planning to sell its $960 million stake in Tulsa-based Oneok. Western subsidiary Westar Industries has engaged JP Morgan to advise it in the sale of 4.7 million shares of Oneok common stock and preferred stock that is convertible into 39.9 million additional shares of Oneok common stock, representing about 44.5% of total Oneok shares. Oneok is a midstream gas transporter in the Midcontinent region and the largest natural gas distributor in Kansas and Oklahoma, operating as Kansas Gas Service and Oklahoma Natural Gas, which serve 1.4 million customers. Western Resources has total assets of $6.6 billion, including security company Protection One and electric utility Westar Energy, which serves 640,000 customers in Kansas.

Tulsa, OK-based Matrix Service Co. said last Thursday that it and a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. have entered into an agreement with Bechtel Corp. to carry out the engineering and construction of three liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage tanks for Cheniere Energy Inc’s LNG terminal that is under construction in Cameron Parish, LA.

Tulsa, OK-based Matrix Service Co. said Thursday that it and a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. have entered into an agreement with Bechtel Corp. to carry out the engineering and construction of three liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage tanks for Cheniere Energy Inc’s LNG terminal that is under construction in Cameron Parish, LA.

Early rumblings about an El Nino weather pattern developing this summer has energy industries and markets monitoring the situation very closely. Such an event would cause a huge shift in summer weather and tropical storm forecasts, thus impacting natural gas demand and pricing levels significantly.