weather

With the weather events in the third quarter impacting nearly all of Newfield Exploration Co.’s Gulf of Mexico platforms and rigs, the producer is now seeking partners to move ahead on its production plans. However, unlike past ventures when producers looked for partners to help reduce risks, Newfield is looking for partners with available rigs.

As expected (see Daily GPI, Oct. 21), all of the cash market succumbed Friday to a bearish storage report, prior-day futures weakness, a dearth of weather-based demand and a weekend slump in industrial load. Price drops ranged from about 20 cents to more than a dollar. The biggest declines were concentrated in the Midcontinent and West.

Citing a forecast of warm weather in Florida and lower linepack, Florida Gas Transmission issued an Overage Alert Day notice Thursday with 35% tolerance for negative daily imbalances. However, with Hurricane Wilma approaching, “the possibility of operational concerns about high linepack and low linepack both exist,” FGT said. The pipeline added that it will have to make decisions concerning Overage or Underage Alert Day notices on a daily basis, and “will try to afford customers as much flexibility as possible while first maintaining operational reliability.”

Newfield Exploration Co. said year-to-date, four major weather events have caused production deferrals in the Gulf of Mexico — Hurricanes Dennis, Katrina and Rita and Tropical Storm Arlene, and the full-year impact will result in the deferral of 18-20 Bcfe.

Citing the continuing interruption of Gulf of Mexico supplies caused by Hurricane Katrina and warm weather in Florida, Gulfstream said Thursday an OFO that it had initiated Tuesday will remain in effect until further notice. See the bulletin board for the OFO’s conditions.

In its most recent weather forecast released publicly on Tuesday, WSI Corp. said it expects the U.S. to see a mixed bag of temperatures from September through November.

While hot weather and hurricane-related shut-ins had the energy industry looking for a small natural gas injection in the neighborhood of 52 Bcf, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Thursday morning that 59 Bcf was actually put into underground stocks for the week ended July 15.

Florida Gas Transmission ended Friday an Overage Alert Day notice that had been in effect for the previous four days, but cautioned that due to warm weather in Florida, another such notice could be issued soon.

A lower utility margin due to warmer weather and customer conservation because of high wholesale natural gas prices led to a 4% decline in Charlotte, NC-based Piedmont Natural Gas’ second quarter 2005 net income. Net income slipped to $39.6 million, or $0.52/share, from $41.3 million. or $0.54/share, posted for the same period in 2004.