Winter Storm Uri

As the Texas legislative session drew to a close over the weekend, lawmakers approved bills aimed at overhauling the state’s electric grid — and those who govern it — following February’s massive winter storm that left residents in the dark for days amid record cold temperatures. “This is our response, this body’s response, to the…

Natural gas-fired power generation declined 7% in the first four months of 2021 versus the same period a year earlier, a reflection of higher prices and increased competition from renewable fuels, according to new federal data. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a report Monday the decline marked the first year/year decrease for the…

Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy Corp. was tagged with $1 billion in added fuel costs by Winter Storm Uri in February, for which it plans to seek recovery from state regulatory commissions, according to CEO Ben Fowke. Fowke, during a 1Q2021 earnings conference call Thursday said the fuel costs from the storm came “despite strong operational performance.”…

Royal Dutch Shell plc saw better-than-expected profits in the first quarter as global demand for oil and natural gas soared along with prices. CEO Ben van Beurden during a conference call to discuss quarterly performance, said Shell was in a “pole position to benefit from the economic recovery” after posting the strong start for the…

A considerable jump in global oil and natural gas prices during the first quarter supported a big gain in profits for French supermajor Total SE.  Commodity prices were strong during the period as the world continued recovering from Covid-19, while colder weather in the northern hemisphere helped drive natural gas demand. Total said average oil…

The performance of the Kinder Morgan Inc. (KMI) natural gas pipeline and storage assets during Winter Storm Uri drove a roughly $1.7 billion year/year earnings increase for the first quarter, leading it to raise full-year profit forecasts. CEO Steven Kean said KMI took several actions prior to and during February’s historic freeze to ensure the…

The impacts of a Winter Storm Uri, which wreaked havoc on the Texas energy system in mid-February, are lingering nearly two months later as downstream facilities await freeze-related repairs. “From a natural disaster perspective, the impact on the petrochemical space from Uri is much greater than any previous event that we’ve had in recent memory,”…