Inflicted

Glutted markets slowed natural gas trade between Canada and the United States in the first six months of this year — and inflicted severe price cuts on market participants, according to the latest import-export records released by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Natural Gas Regulatory Activities.

Setbacks inflicted on Canadian exporters by the North American gas glut keep going from bad to worse, confirm the latest trade data compiled by the National Energy Board (NEB).

Setbacks inflicted on Canadian exporters by the North American gas glut keep going from bad to worse, confirm the latest trade data compiled by the National Energy Board (NEB).

The Williams Cos. said it expects its operations, particularly its natural gas midstream businesses, to take a hit on profits in the third quarter of $50-70 million due to the damage inflicted by hurricanes Gustav and Ike.

Determining the amount of damage inflicted on energy infrastructure located onshore and offshore the Texas and Louisiana coasts proved difficult Monday as the area began its painful recovery from Hurricane Ike’s impact. The Category Two hurricane slammed into Galveston, TX, around 2 a.m. Saturday, and its winds apparently destroyed at least 10 offshore production platforms. The biggest problem facing the Gulf Coast was a lack of power — a problem that could take up to four weeks to remedy, officials said.

The House late Thursday inflicted a blow on the energy industry by rejecting by a narrow margin efforts to open up much of the federal Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) to natural gas exploration and production. Some industry advocates were seeing the gain in support as evidenced by the close vote as progress towards an eventual win.

Record oil and natural gas prices trumped the serious damage inflicted to offshore Gulf of Mexico operations by hurricanes in the third quarter, with ExxonMobil Corp. reporting the highest-ever earnings in corporate history, up 75% from a year ago. Majors Royal Dutch Shell plc and ConocoPhillips, as well as super independents Burlington Resources Inc., Kerr-McGee Corp. and Marathon Oil Co., also were able to overcome extensive offshore hurricane damage to reap massive profits — but there were few production gains.

Information about how much damage Hurricane Rita inflicted on Gulf Coast onshore and offshore infrastructure continued to be somewhat of a mystery on Wednesday, with some producers continuing to assess their operations, while others began to restaff platforms. The Henry Hub natural gas delivery point operated by Sabine Pipe Line LLC remained under force majeure for the seventh day in a row because of power outages and flooding. And Chevron Corp. reported its deepwater Typhoon platform was turned upside down in the storm.

J. Clifford Baxter, 43, who resigned as vice chairman of Enron Corp. in May 2001, has died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was found in a locked vehicle in Sugar Land, a Houston suburb, about 2:30 a.m. Friday, and his death initially was ruled a suicide, but Friday afternoon, an autopsy was ordered. Baxter went to work for Enron in 1991 and eventually became chairman and CEO of Enron North America. He was named Enron’s chief strategy officer in June 2000 and was named vice chairman in October 2000. He also served as the lead negotiator in Enron’s purchase of Portland General Electric in 1997.