An energy consultant who’s privy to a lot of insider information about the hurricane damage to the US energy infrastructure from Katrina and Rita provides the following report:
21 natural gas processing plants with a total daily capacity of 13.1 billion cubic feet per day are closed. Natural gas prices have doubled. Respective storage injection is down by at least 35% nationally.
15 natural gas pipelines are either completely shut-in (no supply) or are not meeting delivery contracts (force majeure).
2 liquefied natural gas terminals are closed (the US only has 4 or 5 LNG terminals total). One terminal is expected to reopen today, Wed., Oct. 5, 2005.
Katrina destroyed 46 Gulf oil production platforms. Rita destroyed 63 production platforms, newer than those hit by Katrina and having higher average production rates. Therefore, the short term impact of Rita is twice that of Katrina – and the impacts are additive.
45% of ALL US offshore drilling rigs have been sunk, severely damaged, set adrift, or run aground.
- 8% have been destroyed or sunk.
- 18% have been severely damaged.
- 19% are adrift or aground.
- Backorders for new drilling rigs now extend out over 6 years.
Over 50% of Gulf Coast refinery capacity (25% of US total) is still not running. 35% of Gulf Coast refineries will remain down for a while
6 refined product pipelines are having supply problems, 2 of which are completely shut down and 4 are running at less than 50% capacity.
Release of Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR) will have some impact, but it will not help the natural gas situation at all. SPR is crude oil… shortages will still develop because of loss of refinery capacity.
Hurricane Ivan (last year) had a minor impact on the markets for 6 months. Katrina and Rita will have a major impact for about 6 years!
PEDAL [Pedal Energy Development Alternatives] develops and promotes the use of pedal powered technology – including Maya Pedal, a new organization in Guatemala that recycles used bicycles to build pedal-powered machines, bicimáquinas.
Pedal Power – recycled bike-machines give new life to Guatemalan farmers
