September 4, 2017 – Financial Times
The impact of Harvey: How the tropical storm in Texas has left the oil industry facing multiple difficulties
By Ed Crooks
Tropical Storm Harvey hit the coast of Texas near Corpus Christi last Friday night, and over the subsequent days brought “unprecedented” rainfall to the heartland of the US oil and gas industry. By Friday, at least 46 people had been reported to have died as a result of the storm…
Read the full article here: https://www.ft.com/content/df14e3e2-9148-11e7-bdfa-eda243196c2c
…The US shale oil boom has increased the concentration of US oil and gas infrastructure in Texas, reflecting the importance of the Eagle Ford formation in the south of the state and the Permian Basin in the west. Antoine Halff of Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy, published a thoughtful note on the resilience of US energy supplies in the age of shale, concluding: “No country, no matter how mighty an oil and gas producer it may be, is beyond the threat of catastrophic damage.” His colleague Jason Bordoff drew five lessons for policymakers. Housley Carr of RBN Energy had a useful overview of effects on oil markets. There was some panic-buying of fuel that caused shortages in and around Dallas, but on the whole US markets were adequately supplied, with an armada of tankers on its way to bring gasoline from Europe. The US wholesale gasoline price has risen by a third since before the storm, but fell back on Friday morning. The American Automobile Association predicted that the average retail price of gasoline in the US would spike to about $2.50 per gallon, its highest since 2015, but forecast it would quickly fall back by the end of the month.
