Released January 24, 2025 | SUGAR LAND
en
Written by Daniel Graeber for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--As parts of North America dust off from the latest round of severe winter weather, woes continue upstream with North Dakota pointing to a decline in crude oil production.
Many parts of the United States this week were in the grips of inclement weather that brought sub-zero temperatures to some areas, and even as much as 10 inches of snow to New Orleans. In neighboring Texas, the cold was likely behind a power outage that disrupted operations at the export facility for liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Freeport, operated by Freeport LNG (Houston, Texas).
On Wednesday, the Reuters news service reported that North Dakota crude oil production was down by 70,000 barrels per day (BBL/d) due to the operational challenges from the cold weather.
"Milder winter temperatures have returned in the region, and we anticipate that the majority of the lost production will return online within the next 3-6 days," the state's pipeline authority was quoted as saying.
For November, the last full month for which the state published data, North Dakota recorded an average of 1.22 million barrels per day (BBL/d) in crude oil production. The Energy Information Administration (EIA), the statistical arm of the federal Energy Department, expects Bakken crude oil production to average 1.25 million BBL/d this year.
Data show North Dakota natural gas production, meanwhile, tends to drop during the cold months, with declines showing up by November.
IIR Energy continues to monitor the weather impact for the U.S. energy sector. Nearly three dozen refineries with a combined potential processing capacity of 7.8 million BBL/d were impacted by so-called Winter Storm Enzo along the U.S. Gulf Coast.
Flint Hills Resources (Wichita, Kansas) was operational at its Corpus Christi East and West refineries, with a capacity of 322,000 BBL/d, though access to the facility was hampered by ice conditions. Motiva (Houston, Texas) curbed activity at its 640,000-BBL/d refinery in Port Arthur, while LyondellBasell Industries NV (NYSE:LYB) (Houston) reported some problems at its Houston Refinery.
Elsewhere, the cold has led to some production issues for natural gas. By Thursday, production was returning to areas impacted by the bitter cold, from the Permian Basin to Appalachia. Natural gas production had increased by around 1.2 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) by Wednesday, recovering some ground lost to the cold weather earlier this week.
Given their predominant location along the U.S. Gulf Coast, meanwhile, only three of the eight liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facilities were operating at or near peak capacity. Apart from the power outage at Freeport, an issue with a compressor station at the LNG terminal in Corpus Christi, operated by Cheniere Energy Incorporated (Houston), brought total capacity down to around 60% as of Wednesday.
Most parts of the continental United States can expect a warming trend over the next few days, with Houston back in the 60-degree Fahrenheit range by the weekend. Still though, it was a bitter Thursday morning along the Gulf Coast, with wind chills still in the single digits.
Markets were still reacting to the extreme weather too. Henry Hub, the U.S. benchmark for the price of natural gas, was up 1% in pre-market trading to reach $4 per million British thermal units.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).
Many parts of the United States this week were in the grips of inclement weather that brought sub-zero temperatures to some areas, and even as much as 10 inches of snow to New Orleans. In neighboring Texas, the cold was likely behind a power outage that disrupted operations at the export facility for liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Freeport, operated by Freeport LNG (Houston, Texas).
On Wednesday, the Reuters news service reported that North Dakota crude oil production was down by 70,000 barrels per day (BBL/d) due to the operational challenges from the cold weather.
"Milder winter temperatures have returned in the region, and we anticipate that the majority of the lost production will return online within the next 3-6 days," the state's pipeline authority was quoted as saying.
For November, the last full month for which the state published data, North Dakota recorded an average of 1.22 million barrels per day (BBL/d) in crude oil production. The Energy Information Administration (EIA), the statistical arm of the federal Energy Department, expects Bakken crude oil production to average 1.25 million BBL/d this year.
Data show North Dakota natural gas production, meanwhile, tends to drop during the cold months, with declines showing up by November.
IIR Energy continues to monitor the weather impact for the U.S. energy sector. Nearly three dozen refineries with a combined potential processing capacity of 7.8 million BBL/d were impacted by so-called Winter Storm Enzo along the U.S. Gulf Coast.
Flint Hills Resources (Wichita, Kansas) was operational at its Corpus Christi East and West refineries, with a capacity of 322,000 BBL/d, though access to the facility was hampered by ice conditions. Motiva (Houston, Texas) curbed activity at its 640,000-BBL/d refinery in Port Arthur, while LyondellBasell Industries NV (NYSE:LYB) (Houston) reported some problems at its Houston Refinery.
Elsewhere, the cold has led to some production issues for natural gas. By Thursday, production was returning to areas impacted by the bitter cold, from the Permian Basin to Appalachia. Natural gas production had increased by around 1.2 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) by Wednesday, recovering some ground lost to the cold weather earlier this week.
Given their predominant location along the U.S. Gulf Coast, meanwhile, only three of the eight liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facilities were operating at or near peak capacity. Apart from the power outage at Freeport, an issue with a compressor station at the LNG terminal in Corpus Christi, operated by Cheniere Energy Incorporated (Houston), brought total capacity down to around 60% as of Wednesday.
Most parts of the continental United States can expect a warming trend over the next few days, with Houston back in the 60-degree Fahrenheit range by the weekend. Still though, it was a bitter Thursday morning along the Gulf Coast, with wind chills still in the single digits.
Markets were still reacting to the extreme weather too. Henry Hub, the U.S. benchmark for the price of natural gas, was up 1% in pre-market trading to reach $4 per million British thermal units.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).
