Texas cold snap arrives as industry says natgas industry is ready

Legend Power Systems

20/01/2022 18:41

By Scott DiSavino
    Jan 20 (Reuters) - Temperatures in Texas plunged on
Thursday, a day after the state's natural gas regulator said the
sector made "significant progress" winterizing facilities to
supply fuel during extreme weather that last year caused
widespread blackouts.
    To avoid a repeat of last February's energy emergencies
after power plants and gas pipes froze, state agencies have
imposed several weatherization and other rules to ensure that
power and gas supplies keep flowing on the coldest days.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2TZ1JJ
    High temperatures in Midland in the Permian will only reach
34 degrees Fahrenheit (1.1 Celsius) on Thursday, the coldest day
of this winter so far, before rising to 49 on Friday, according
to AccuWeather forecasts. That compares with a normal high of 61
F at this time of year.
    That cold snap in West Texas and across much of the rest of
the country put U.S. gas production on track to drop to its
lowest since September due to freezing wells in Texas and other
producing basins, according to preliminary data from Refinitiv.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2U016F
    The Texas Railroad Commission (RRC), which oversees the
state's gas industry, said in a release on Wednesday that about
98% of the facilities its inspectors visited since the end of
last summer were already winterized.
    The agency said "It’s very important to understand that
daily gas production can fluctuate from hour to hour due to a
variety of reasons," including extreme weather, but noted that
most gas supplies remain available most of the time.
    “Based on what our inspectors have observed, gas producers
and pipeline operators have taken necessary actions to ensure
gas will continue to flow this winter to people’s homes and
power plants,” said Ted Wooten, RRC Director of Critical
Infrastructure.
    RRC inspectors visited over 3,800 gas facilities, including
nearly 22,000 oil and gas wells and more than 350 pipelines.

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UPDATE 1-Regulators issue standards to prevent another Texas
grid freeze     urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2QP2OE
U.S. FERC investigates two cases for market manipulation during
Texas February freeze     urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2S926N
Texas adopts rules for natgas/power coordination to avoid Feb
freeze     urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2SN16C
Texas cuts $9,000 power price cap after February freeze   
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2SO1PJ
Texas says 8 power generators violate winter readiness rules   
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2SU0XM
Texas approves more power market rules to avoid another February
freeze     urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2T217L
Texas power plants ready for winter, grid says ahead of cold
snap      urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2TZ1JJ
Icy weather cuts U.S. natgas output to four-month low   
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2U016F
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 (Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by David Gregorio)
 ((scott.disavino@thomsonreuters.com; +1 332 219 1922; Reuters
Messaging: scott.disavino.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))