Swept

Torrential rains that have swept through Oklahoma and other parts of the Midwest and Texas have come at an “incredible cost to the oil and gas industry,” the chairman of the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association (OIPA) said Tuesday.

Eastport, ME (pop. 2,000), may be “the easternmost city in the United States,” but that’s no reason its concerns about the proposed Quoddy Bay liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal should be swept from the map, according to a letter to FERC from a former rear admiral and assistant surgeon general with the U.S. Public Health Service.

Eastport, ME (pop. 2,000), may be “the easternmost city in the United States,” but that’s no reason its concerns about the proposed Quoddy Bay liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal should be swept from the map, according to a letter to FERC from a former rear admiral and assistant surgeon general with the U.S. Public Health Service.

Last year the United States experienced a temporary respite from the devastating hurricanes that swept through Florida and the Gulf Coast in 2005, but the trend toward violent storms is still in place. AccuWeather.com Hurricane Center Chief Forecaster Joe Bastardi warns that the U.S. Gulf Coast, which avoided the wrath of major storms and hurricanes in 2006, is at much higher risk of destructive tropical weather this year. And in the Atlantic, the Northeast also could suffer some hits.

Last year the United States experienced a temporary respite from the devastating hurricanes that swept through Florida and the Gulf Coast in 2005, but the trend toward violent storms is still in place. AccuWeather.com Hurricane Center Chief Forecaster Joe Bastardi warns that the U.S. Gulf Coast, which avoided the wrath of major storms and hurricanes in 2006, is at much higher risk of destructive tropical weather this year. And in the Atlantic, the Northeast also could suffer some hits.

Coming out in a big way during its first action as front month, January natural gas futures on Wednesday soared higher as the wave of cold Canadian air swept eastward. After threatening the psychological $9 level with a high of $8.940, the prompt month ended up closing Wednesday at $8.871, up 31.2 cents from Tuesday’s close.

Cash prices came roaring back in the Rockies on Tuesday for Wednesday’s gas day as high winds, snow and colder temperatures swept through the region and Wyoming Interstate Co. projected that it would be able to restore normal pipeline operations following Saturday’s pipeline rupture and explosion 10 miles south-southwest of Cheyenne, WY. Cash prices in the region jumped more than $4/MMBtu in some cases to the $5.40s.

Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco said Wednesday that new estimates by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) that show 217 square miles of Louisiana wetlands were swept away by hurricanes Katrina and Rita provide strong support for her legal action against the Minerals Management Service’s (MMS) recent western Gulf oil and gas lease sale.

It’s been four-and-a-half months since Ivan, the most destructive hurricane for the industry in the last 50 years, swept through the Gulf of Mexico, but producers and pipeline operators were still sending diving crews out last week to assess pipeline and platform damage. Although MMS has set a June 1 deadline for pipe repairs to be completed, El Paso Corp. said repair work on some of its facilities could continue until next fall.