Former US Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette argues that the situation in Texas after a storm shows the importance of having ‘a diverse energy supply’.
Oil and gas prices continued to rise on Tuesday morning, with the winter cold clogging wells and refineries and shutting down natural gas production in Texas and Oklahoma, leaving millions of people without power.
West Texas Intermediate crude rose 19 cents to $ 59.66 a barrel, while natural gas rose 21.3 cents, or 7.31%, to $ 3.125 per thousand cubic feet. RBOB gasoline was 6.2 cents up to $ 1.7545 a gallon.
“This is a temporary event,” said Stewart Glickman, an analyst at CFRA Research. Higher prices “will persist until we get past the blackout stages, the power lines are repaired and things are back to normal”.
WALMART TEMPORARILY CLOSES 600 STORES DUE TO INTENSE CLIMATE
The Trinity River is mostly frozen after a snowstorm on Monday in Fort Worth, Texas. (AP / Star-Telegram)
Freezing weather has knocked down about 3 million barrels of crude oil production, or about 15% of US production, offline. At the same time, natural gas production has been halted and the fractionators that convert liquids from natural gas to propane are in increasing demand. The shares of natural gas producers increased along with prices.
| Ticker | Safety | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CNX | CNX FEATURES | 13.52 | +0.20 | + 1.50% |
| RRC | RANGE RESOURCES | 10.59 | +0.43 | + 4.23% |
| AIR | ANTERO RESOURCES CORP | 9.18 | +0.18 | + 2.00% |
Parts of Texas will continue to see sub-normal temperatures at least until the middle of this week, with up to six inches of snow expected on Thursday morning. Temperatures are currently in the single digits with the chills expected to drop to 15 degrees below zero.
TESLA CHARGES COSTS COST As the climate increases electricity prices
Millions of Texans have suffered blackouts in recent days, due to the cold temperatures that caused wind-powered generators to freeze.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which manages power for more than 26 million Texans, or about 90% of the state’s electrical load, warned on Tuesday morning that the number of controlled outages that need to be carried out “remains high” , but expects it to “Reduce the number throughout the day.”
In neighboring Oklahoma, thousands are without power because low temperatures and an inadequate supply of natural gas has caused Oklahoma Gas & Electric Co. to start its own continuous blackouts.