Week 1: August 21 - 27, 2005

1. Katrina strikes south Florida 8/25 and enters the Gulf of Mexico; energy companies in Gulf begin evacuations.
2. DOE deploys staff prior to landfall on Gulf Coast; works with States, industry, and other Federal agencies to prepare for Katrina.

• The energy sector impacts from Katrina are significant but are largely limited to 1.2 million electricity customers losing power in Florida (8/25). That is a significant amount but not unexpected for such a storm.
• After Florida, Katrina changes track and poses a clear threat to the oil and gas producing facilities in the Gulf of Mexico and to the city of New Orleans. Evacuations of offshore oil and gas facilities begin.
• 8/26 EPA grants fuel waivers in FL for use of conventional gasoline and high sulfur diesel in place of cleaner burning gasoline and diesel.
• 8/27 Emergency Support Function-12 (ESF-12) is activated by FEMA to support the National Response Coordination Center (NRCC) at FEMA HQ. Over the next two days, DOE staff deploy to Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana State EOCs, and to Regional Response Coordination Centers in Atlanta and Denton, TX.
• 8/27 DOE issues first ESF-12 situation report.

Week 2: August 28 - September 3, 2005

1. Katrina strikes the Gulf Coast 8/29; damage to the U.S. energy sector is unprecedented. The scope of damage, loss of communications, and lack of access to affected energy assets delays the full impact assessment.
2. The Administration takes significant actions to ensure fuel supplies. DOE works with the States, industry, and other Federal agencies to speed restoration efforts exceeding those ever undertaken by the Department.

• 8/28 The Strategic Petroleum Reserve shuts operations in New Orleans and Bayou Choctaw. Personnel are evacuated and operations are relocated to Big Hill.
• The worst day energy sector impacts from Katrina (8/30) are devastating:
  • 2.7 million electricity customers are without power in Florida, Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi.
  • 11 petroleum refineries shut down, representing 2.5 million b/d or 15% of U.S. refining capacity.
  • According to Minerals Management Service (MMS), 1.4 million b/d of crude production shut-in, representing 27% of U.S. crude production.
  • According to MMS, 8.8 billion cubic feet/day of natural gas production shut-in, representing 17% the U.S. gas production.
  • Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP), Capline crude pipeline, and Colonial, Plantation, and Dixie petroleum product pipelines shut down. All pipeline deliveries of gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and propane supplies to the East Coast, including Southeastern States, stop. Plantation and Colonial are major suppliers of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel to the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions.
  • Over course of the week, with substantial DOE assistance in finding generators and eliminating transportation roadblocks, Colonial Pipeline continues to add capacity to both its gasoline and distillate main lines, which run from Houston, TX, to Greensboro, NC. Distributed generating equipment is being brought on line, and additional power generation continues to be brought on line over the next 24 hours.
• 8/31 DOE approves first request for crude oil loan from SPR.
• 8/31 EPA grants waivers to first responders in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana to use high-sulfur off-road diesel. The waivers are extended to all 50 states.
• 9/1 DHS Secretary Chertoff waives the Jones Act restrictions on shipments of crude oil and refined petroleum products by foreign flagged vessels to U.S. ports. The waiver is effective 9/1 - 9/19.
• 9/1 DOE staff in Louisiana provide Geographical Information System (GIS) coordinates to FEMA so that shipments of food and water can quickly be delivered to Entergy workers involved in the restoration.
• 9/1 DOE ESF-12 coordinates with Louisiana State Police to facilitate the delivery of 5,000 gallons of diesel fuel directly to the Federal Reserve Bank in New Orleans permitting security systems protecting the bullion there to work properly.
• 9/1 EPA issues reformulated gasoline waiver for Atlanta.
• 9/2 EPA issues waiver allowing marketers in State of Virginia to sell conventional gasoline in place of reformulated gasoline.
• 9/2 International Energy Agency announces it will supply additional crude and refined products to the U.S.
• 9/2 President Bush authorizes DOE to offer for sale 30 million barrels from SPR; DOE enters into three separate agreements:
  • ExxonMobil Corp.: 3 million barrels of "sweet" crude and 3 million barrels of "sour" crude
  • Placid Refining: 1 million barrels of "sweet" crude
  • Valero: 1.5 million barrels of "sweet" crude
• 9/2 Restoration of electricity is essentially complete in Florida.
• 9/2 DOE briefs Governors’ and Congressional staff on the status of energy infrastructure recovery. OE participates on conference calls with state energy offices nationwide on energy supply plans.
• 9/3 DOE participates on Department of Interior’s daily conference calls to coordinate inter-agency information gathering and assess damage of energy infrastructure.
• 9/3 DOE enters into three additional separate agreements to loan oil from SPR:
  • BP - 2 million barrels of "sweet" crude
  • Marathon - 1 million "sweet" and 0.5 million "sour" barrels
  • Total Petroleum – 0.15 million barrels of ‘sweet’ and 0.45 million barrels "sour" crude

Week 3: September 4 - 10, 2005

1. DOE collaborates to deliver needed supplies, transport personnel, and facilitate fuel deliveries and electricity infrastructure restoration.
2. Electricity sector restoration efforts begin in New Orleans.

• Energy sector impacts from Katrina as of 9/4:
  • 1.3 million electricity customers remain without power in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi. 1.4 million electricity customers restored since peak outage 8/30.
  • 8 petroleum refineries shut down, representing 1.5 million b/d or 9% of U.S. refining capacity. This is an improvement of 1 million b/d over the previous week.
  • According to MMS, 1.2 million b/d of crude production shut-in, representing 23% of U.S. crude production. This is an improvement of 200,000 b/d over the previous week.
  • According to MMS, 5.8 billion cubic feet/day of natural gas production shut-in, representing 11% of U.S. natural gas production. This is an improvement of 3 billion cubic feet/day over the previous week.
  • As a result of coordinated effort during previous week, Plantation Pipeline is running at full capacity as of 9/4. Colonial Pipeline is operating at 73% capacity on its main lines. The LOOP is operating at about 75% of maximum capacity. Neither Capline Pipeline nor Dixie Pipeline is running at full capacity. On 9/9, the Dixie Pipeline returned to full capacity.
• 9/4 DOE staff remain at National Response Coordination Center at FEMA HQ, FEMA Regions IV and VI, and the State Emergency Operation Centers in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi. On 9/8, DOE staff join the Interagency Incident Management Team at FEMA HQ.
• 9/4 DOE assists large electricity pole maker in Alabama to obtain fuel enabling manufacture of poles needed for electricity recovery in Gulf Coast region.
• 9/5 Entergy crews return to New Orleans for first time since Katrina struck to begin assessing damage and restoring power.
• 9/5 Fuel Task Force established to address diesel, gasoline and propane supply for emergency response operations. DOE works closely with FEMA on this task force to examine and mitigate emergency fuel supply issues. 
• 9/5 DOE works with the pipeline, terminal, and power companies to coordinate restoration efforts by establishing Collins Tank Farm in Mississippi as a priority for power restoration. This tank farm is a significant location for Colonial and Plantation pipelines. DOE facilitates access for restoration crews. DOE also works with DOT to institute driver and weight limit waivers and to ensure that generators are delivered.
• 9/6 DOE mobilizes its DC-9 alert aircraft and other aviation assets to support DoD in the transportation of troops, refugees, and other response requirements.
• 9/9 EPA extends reformulated gasoline waivers through 9/23/05 for Richmond and through 10/5/05 for Atlanta.

Week 4: September 11 - 17, 2005

1. Energy sector impacts remain significant.
2. Considerable interagency coordination to support restoration and ensure availability of fuel.

IMPACT AND RESPONSE:

• Energy sector impacts from Katrina as of 9/12:
  • Almost 440,000 electricity customers remain without electric power in Louisiana and Mississippi. Over 2.2 million electricity customers restored since Katrina made landfall in Florida.
  • 5petroleum refineries shut down, representing 934,000 b/d or 5% of U.S. refining capacity. This is an improvement of over 540,000 b/d from the previous week.
  • According to MMS, over 860,000 b/d of crude production is shut-in, representing 17% of U.S. crude production. This is an improvement of about 320,000 b/d from the previous week.
  • According to MMS, 3.8 billion cubic feet/day of natural gas production shut-in, representing 7% of U.S. natural gas production. This is an improvement of 2 billion cubic feet/day over the previous week.
• 9/11 DOE staff remain deployed at National Response Coordination Center (NRCC) FEMA HQ, Interagency Incident Management Team at FEMA-HQ, FEMA Regions IV and VI, and State Emergency Operation Centers (EOC) in Louisiana and Mississippi. During the week, DOE deploys two teams to North Carolina and South Carolina to prepare for Ophelia. The staff deployed to South Carolina were deactivated on 9/15 and deactivated in North Carolina on 9/16.
• 9/13 EPA extends the diesel waiver for States located in PADD 1 and PADD 3 including Tennessee to allow the use of high sulfur diesel for on-road use until 10/5/05.
• 9/14 Coast Guard and its industry partners establish a Joint Information Center to support the response to seven major oil spills in the southern Louisiana area following Hurricane Katrina.
• 9/14 Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration extends the driver-hour waiver for motor carriers hauling fuel in the Southern and Eastern regions of the country in response to fuel supply circumstances and EPA’s recent extended fuel waiver. The waiver expires on October 5, 2005.

Week 5: September 18 - 24, 2005

1. DOE approves seventh crude oil loan request from SPR bringing total volume to 13.2 million barrels.
2. Additional DOE staff deployed in advance of Rita.
3. Rita makes U.S. landfall 9/24 in area densely populated with energy production assets, further devastating energy sector. DOE facilitates fuel deliveries to first responders.

IMPACT AND RESPONSE:

• Energy sector impacts from Katrina as of 9/19:
  • 275,000 electricity customers remain without electric power in Louisiana and Mississippi. 160,000 customers have been restored since the previous week and over 2.4 million customers restored since the peak of Katrina.
  • 4 petroleum refineries remain shut down, representing 879,000 b/d.
  • According to MMS, 838,000 b/d of crude production shut-in, representing 16% of U.S. crude production. This is an improvement of 20,000 b/d from the previous week.
  • According to MMS, 3.4 billion cubic feet/day of natural gas production shut-in, representing 6% of U.S. natural gas production. This is an improvement of 0.4 billion cubic feet/day from the previous week.

• Total energy sector impacts following Rita landfall as of 9/24:

  • 1,140,000 customers are without electric power in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi. This includes new customer outages due to Hurricane Rita.
  • 20 petroleum refineries are shut down, representing 4.9 million b/d or 29% of U.S. refining capacity.
  • According to MMS, 1.5 million b/d of crude production shut-in or 29% of U.S. crude production.
  • According to MMS, 7.5 billion cubic feet/day of natural gas production shut-in or 14% of U.S. natural gas production.
  • The Seaway and Sun crude pipelines are shutdown. These lines run from the Texas Gulf Coast to Cushing, OK. Capline Pipeline, which transports crude oil to Illinois refineries, is operating at 75% capacity. Product pipelines which serve the Midwest, Northeast, and West Texas are shut down including Centennial and Explorer serving the Midwest, Longhorn serving West TX, and TEPPCO serving the Midwest and Northeast. Colonial Pipeline, a major product pipeline to the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions, is reduced to 50% and portions of Magellan Pipeline serving the Midwest are closed.
  • The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP) suspends offshore operations. Texas Ports in Houston, Freeport, Arthur, and Corpus Christi are closed.
• 9/19 OE responds to activation orders from FEMA and deploys two staff to FEMA Region IV in Atlanta, one to the State EOC in Tallahassee, FL, and one to Austin, TX.
• 9/20 DOE approves a seventh loan request for crude oil from SPR, bringing total loans to 13.2 million barrels. Seventh request went to Total Petrochemicals USA, Inc. for 600,000 barrels of sour crude.
• 9/22 SPR sites of Big Hill, Bryan Mound, and West Hackberry are shut down and staff evacuated in advance of Hurricane Rita. Bayou Chactow site is operating on Alert Level II.
• 9/24 ESF-12 in Texas assists refineries in the Port Arthur area obtain clearances for restoration work at Valero Port Arthur refinery.  ESF-12 works with electric utilities to expedite power restoration to the refining industry.
• 9/24 DOE ESF-12 assists in strategy to preposition fuel for first responders. Other Federal involvement includes GSA, TSA, DoD and ESF-13.  Six strategically located sites in the impact area are identified for fuel depots. 5,000 gallons of gasoline and 5,000 gallons of diesel are supplied to each of the six locations, which are to remain operable for 10 days.
• 9/24 Three OE staff deployed to Austin, TX, in preparation for Hurricane Rita. Another is at NORTHCOM, per their request.

Week 6: September 25 – October 1, 2005

1. Rita results in major devastation to energy sector; as with Katrina, lack of access to energy assets hinders restoration.
2. DOE authorizes measures to facilitate electricity restoration in eastern Texas.
3. DOE completes delivery of the first cargo of SPR crude oil with 550,000 barrel cargo of sweet crude to Marathon Petroleum.

• Energy sector impacts from Rita and Katrina as of 9/25:
  • Over 1.5 million electricity customers without power in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas.
  • 20 petroleum refineries shut down, representing 4.9 million b/d or 29% of U.S. refining capacity.
  • According to MMS, 1.5 million b/d of crude production shut-in or 29% of U.S. crude production.
  • According to MMS, 8.05 billion cubic feet/day of natural gas production shut-in or 15% of U.S. natural gas production.
  • The LOOP, Sun and Seaway crude pipelines are shutdown. Capline is operating at 75% capacity. Product piplines Dixie (propane), Explorer, Longhorn, TEPPCO, and Centennial are shut down. Colonial Pipeline throughput capacity has been reduced and portions of Magellan Pipeline are closed. On 9/25 the Seaway pipeline began operating at full capacity and on 9/27 the LOOP and Dixie pipeline began operating at full capacity.
• 9/25 Big Hill SPR site receives minor damage, however, flooding blocks entry. No assessment at West Hackberry due to impassable, flooded roads. Bayou Choctaw and Bryan Mound report no apparent damage.
• 9/26 DHS in coordination with DOE and DOT’s Maritime Administration, issues another Jones Act waiver to allow foreign ships to serve between U.S. ports in the movement of fuels, effective until October 24. The DOT Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration also extended the driver-hours waiver for the nation until October 26.
• 9/27 DOE ESF-12 in Texas leverages FEMA influence to ensure diesel fuel supplies to an Alabama manufacturer of pressure treated utility poles to support restoration in Texas.
• 9/27 Houston water supply is down to about one-day supply. ESF-12 facilitates coordination with CenterPoint Energy, Entergy, Army Corps of Engineers, City of Houston, and the Coastal Water Authority to restore power to the Lake Livingston Pumping Station, a crucial pumping station for water supplies for local refineries and the City of Houston.
• 9/28 EPA extends waivers for Houston/Galveston, Dallas/Forth Worth, TX, and Richmond, VA, to continue to use conventional gasoline in lieu of reformulated gasoline (RFG) until October 20. EPA also issues an RFG waiver for the St. Louis, MO, area until October 7. The Atlanta, GA, area receives an extension on its low sulfur gasoline waiver until October 25. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality grants a waiver to delay the use of the Texas low-emission diesel until October 21.
• 9/28 In support of restoration activities in Texas, Secretary Bodman issues order to authorize and direct CenterPoint Energy to temporarily connect and restore power to Entergy Gulf States, Inc.
• 9/28 Texas Governor issues order allowing electric utilities to construct facilities over private land without the need to obtain an order of eminent domain from a court of competent jurisdiction.
• 9/28 DOE completes delivery of the first cargo of SPR crude oil sold as a result of the on-line competitive sale earlier in the month. The 550,000 barrel cargo of sweet crude intended for Marathon Petroleum was delivered from Bryan Mound, Texas. Transfer of all of the contracted crude oil will continue in batches through October. SPR also approves loans of crude oil of up to 13.2 million barrels to refiners whose deliveries were interrupted. Over six million barrels of oil have been delivered to date.
• 9/28 Two SPR sites (West Hackberry, LA and Big Hill, TX) remain without power due to Hurricane Rita. These sites were unable to drawdown crude oil until they received power on October 2 for Big Hill and October 4 for West Hackberry.
• 9/29 Secretary Bodman requests DoD help in providing housing assistance to restoration workers at a Lake Charles refinery in Louisiana.
• 9/30 Secretary Bodman issues second order pursuant to Section 202 of the Federal Power Act to allow the ERCOT utilities to provide service into the Entergy service territory. Secretary Bodman issues an order to authorize and direct TXU Electric Delivery to temporarily connect and energize its existing Huntington to Etoile 138kV line for the purpose of delivering electricity to Deep East Texas Electric Cooperative, an area normally served by Entergy Gulf States, Inc.
• 10/1 DOE staff help Sam Rayburn Powerhouse supply 5MW of power to the Jasper Newton Co-op and thus provide additional power in east Texas.

Week 7: October 2 - 8, 2005

1. Collaborative efforts continue to make progress in energy infrastructure restoration.
2. Secretary Bodman kicks off National "Easy Ways to Save Energy" Campaign.
3. Waivers extended to ensure fuel availability.

IMPACT AND RESPONSE:

• Energy sector impacts from Katrina and Rita as of 10/3:
  • 480,000 electricity customers remain without electric power in Louisiana and Texas. 1 million customers have been restored since the peak seen during the previous week
  • 12 petroleum refineries shut down, representing 3.0 million b/d or 18% of U.S. refining capacity. This is an improvement of 1.9 million b/d from the previous week.
  • According to MMS, 1.4 million b/d of crude production shut-in, representing 27% of U.S. crude production. This is a slight improvement of 110,000 b/d from the previous week.
  • According to MMS, 7.5 billion cubic feet/day of natural gas production shut-in, representing 14% of U.S. natural gas production. This is an improvement of 0.55 billion cubic feet/day from the previous week.
  • Centennial and Longhorn pipelines remain shutdown. The TEPPCO pipeline is operating at 45% capacity, the Colonial pipeline at 50% capacity, and the Magellan, Sun and Explorer pipelines are operating with limited capacity. On 10/4, the Centennial pipeline began operating at full capacity and on 10/5 the Longhorn pipeline began operating at full capacity.
  • 21 natural gas processing plants, with capacities equal to or greater than 100 million cubic feet per day, are not active in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Lack of power and gas supplies is the reason for 10 closed facilitites; 11 plants suffered damage.
• 10/2 SPR reports power restored to the Big Hill SPR site as part of the cooperative arrangement on restoration. 10/4 SPR West Hackberry site receives partial power.
• 10/2 DOE staff remain deployed at the National Response Coordination Center (NRCC) at FEMA HQ, the Interagency Incident Management Team at HQ, and both the State Emergency Operation Center (EOC) and the FEMA Joint Federal Office (JFO) in Baton Rouge, LA.
• 10/3 Texas Tiger Team facilitates an unprecedented level of coordination of restoration resources with Entergy, CenterPoint, AEP, and TXU.
• 10/4 Secretary Bodman kicks off National "Easy Ways to Save Energy" Campaign to promote energy savings in response to rising winter energy costs.
• 10/4 EPA extends waiver allowing high sulfur (dyed) diesel fuel to be used on highways until 10/25/05 in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.
• 10/6 EPA extends reformulated gasoline waiver for the St. Louis, MO, area until 10/27/05. IRS also extends until 10/25/05 the penalty relief period during which dyed diesel fuel can be sold for use or used on the highway. The penalty relief applies throughout the U.S.

Week 8: October 9 - 15, 2005

1. Significant oil and gas capacity remains off line. Electricity restoration is nearing completion with about 180,000 electricity customers without power; two-thirds of that number are in New Orleans and considered unable to receive power.
2. DOE begins exploring opportunities to incorporate advanced technology in electricity system reconstruction.

• Energy sector impacts from Katrina and Rita as of 10/11:
  • 180,000 electricity customers remain without electric power in Louisiana and Texas (less than 10,000 in TX). 300,000 customers are restored since the previous week and over 1.3 million customers are restored since the peak of Hurricane Rita. On 10/13 Entergy reports that number of customers unable to receive power in Louisiana is down to approximately 123,000.
  • 7 petroleum refineries shut down, representing 1.9 million b/d or 11% of U.S. refining capacity. This is an improvement of 1.2 million b/d over the previous week.
  • According to MMS, 1.06 million b/d of crude production shut-in, representing 21% of U.S. crude production. This is an improvement of 0.3 million b/d over the previous week.
  • According to MMS, 6.04 billion cubic feet/day of natural gas production shut-in, representing 11% of U.S. natural gas production. This is an improvement of 1.5 billion cubic feet/day over the previous week.
  • The Capline Pipeline is operating at 80% capacity, the TEPPCO pipeline is at between 65-75% capacity, the Colonial Pipeline at 100% capacity for gasoline and 80% capacity for distillate, and the Magellan, Sun and Explorer pipelines are operating with limited capacity.
• 10/9 DOE staff remained deployed at the National Response Coordination Center (NRCC) at FEMA HQ, the Interagency Incident Management Team at HQ, and both the State Emergency Operation Center (EOC) and the FEMA Joint Federal Office (JFO) in Baton Rouge, LA, and in Austin, TX. On 10/13, FEMA opens New Orleans Area Field Office. Staffing includes one from DOE.
• 10/10 DOE hosts a meeting in Washington, DC, with Entergy and several other utilities to discuss incorporating new technologies into electricity system reconstruction efforts in the Southeast, particularly New Orleans.

Week 9: October 16 - 21 2005

1. Significant oil and gas capacity remains off line. Less than 140,000 electricity customers remain without power. The majority are located in New Orleans and considered unable to receive power.
2. DOE begins preparations for response to Hurricane Wilma.

• Energy sector impacts from Katrina and Rita as of 10/17:
  • 140,000 electricity customers remain without electric power in Louisiana and Texas (less than 10,000 in Texas). 40,000 customers have been restored since the previous week and over 1,370,000 customers have been restored since the peak of Hurricane Rita.
  • 6 petroleum refineries shut down, representing 1.6 million b/d or 10% of U.S. refining capacity. This is an improvement of 0.2 million b/d over the previous week.
  • According to MMS, 0.97 b/d of crude production shut-in, representing 19% of U.S. crude production. This is an improvement of 0.1 million b/d over the previous week.
  • According to MMS, 5.5 billion cubic feet/day of natural gas production shut-in, representing 10% of U.S. natural gas production. This is an improvement of 0.5 billion cubic feet/day over the previous week.
  • According to the Association of Oil Pipelines, all on-shore interstate oil pipelines have resumed 100 percent normal operation capacity. However, some systems continue to experience reduced availability of products to transport.
  • 16 natural gas processing plants in Louisiana and Texas, with capacities equal to or greater than 100 million cubic feet per day, are not active. The inactive plants have an aggregate capacity of 9.71 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d), and they had a total pre-hurricane flow volume of 5.45 Bcf/d.
• DOE staff remained deployed at the National Response Coordination Center (NRCC) at FEMA HQ, the Interagency Incident Management Team at HQ, both the State Emergency Operation Center (EOC) and the FEMA Joint Federal Office (JFO) in Baton Rouge, LA and the New Orleans Area Field. Staff deployed to Baton Rouge to assist FEMA in the coordination of electric power to temporary housing. On 10/19 staff were activated to the Regional Response Coordination Center (RRCC) in Atlanta for Hurricane Wilma.
• 10/20 DOE ESF-12 staff in Louisiana have completed electrical infrastructure assessments for St. Bernard and New Orleans Parishes. They have visually inspected the infrastructure situation to better understand the situation. 10/13 Three members of DOE ESF-12 team of engineers in New Orleans perform an on-site assessment of the Plaquemines Parish. Plaquemines Parish is south of Orleans Parish and is one of the three parishes under the jurisdiction of the Area Field Office in New Orleans.

Week 10: October 24 - 30 2005

1. Significant oil and gas capacity remains off line. Less than 125,000 electricity customers remain without power. The majority are in New Orleans and considered unable to receive power.
2. Hurricane Wilma strikes Florida on 10/24, cutting power to over 3 million customers.

• Energy sector impacts from Katrina and Rita as of 10/25:
  • 125,000 electricity customers remain without electric power in Louisiana and Texas (less than 5,000 in Texas). 15,000 customers have been restored since the previous week and over 1,470,000 customers have been restored since the peak of Hurricane Rita. The current outages include 120,000 customers unable to receive power in New Orleans.
  • 4 petroleum refineries shut down, representing 0.991 million b/d or 8% of U.S. refining capacity. This is an improvement of 0.3 million b/d from the previous week.
  • According to MMS, 1.0 b/d of crude production shut-in, representing 19% of U.S. crude production. This is a slight increase from the previous week due to Hurricane Wilma.
  • According to MMS, 5.6 billion cubic feet/day of natural gas production shut-in, representing 10% of U.S. natural gas production. This is an increase of 0.1 billion cubic feet/day over the previous week.
• Energy sector impacts following Wilma landfall as of 10/25:
  • 3.25 million customers are without power in Florida
• 10/24 DOE staff are at the Regional Response Coordination Center (RRCC) in Atlanta, GA. DOE staff are also at the New Orleans Area Field Office and State EOC in Baton Rouge.
• 10/24 EPA grants State of Florida a waiver to use highway diesel sulfur and dye requirements through November 10.

Media contact(s):
Craig Stevens, 202/586-4940