Outages

U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports were slowly recovering Friday, but the impacts of brutal cold along the Gulf Coast that nearly halted shipments altogether were lingering.  Eighteen empty LNG vessels were floating in the Gulf of Mexico Friday, up from 12 on Thursday, Kpler economist Reid I’Anson told NGI. Another two tankers were diverted…

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that in 2018, electricity power outages on average were about 5.8 hours per customer.

California regulators on Monday began taking public input on guidelines for utility public safety power shutoffs (PSPS) that include shortening the outages and coordinating more closely with local communities.

At its peak, Hurricane Harvey knocked out more than 10,000 MW of electricity generating capacity in the Texas grid, while relatively cool temperatures across most of the state also reduced natural gas demand.

Natural gas deliveries to power plants in the PJM Interconnection have dropped by around 1.3 Bcf/d over the last two weeks due to spring maintenance outages, according to natural gas analytics firm Genscape.

Xcel Energy on Sunday reported new heavy rain storms in already flooded areas in Colorado, further hampering efforts to assess the condition of natural gas pipelines and equipment. On Sunday, the combination utility said there were approximately 4,070 customers without gas service, up from the 2,500 total last Friday (see related item).

Xcel Energy on Friday was hoping a week of heavy rains would subside and allow its utility crews to restore service in various areas west and north of metropolitan Denver on Colorado’s Front Range where there was a lot of flooding, inaccessible areas and exposed distribution pipelines.

Cash natural gas prices rose 3 cents overall Monday, with gains paced by strong Northeast points undergoing pipeline outages, and higher points in California. Other major market centers were mixed. Futures prices waffled throughout the day, but managed a positive finish, with June ending up 1.5 cents to $3.925 and July adding 1.1 cents to $3.971. June crude oil fell 87 cents to $95.17/bbl.

Physical natural gas prices continued their volatile ways Wednesday with eastern points continuing higher prompted by pipeline outages and below normal temperatures, while locations west of the Eastern Seaboard were declining. Overall, the national average gain was 95 cents, but taking out volatile eastern points revealed an overall average loss of 8 cents. At the close of trading February futures were 0.4 cent lower at $3.554 and March was down 0.5 cent at $3.553. March crude oil slipped $1.45 to $95.23/bbl.