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☆ New York’s Near Zombie Apocalypse
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Journal Editorial Report: The week’s best and worst from Kim Strassel, Allysia Finley and Dan Henninger. Images: AP/Zuma Press Composite: Mark KellyImagine if nearly half of New York City lost heat for months during the winter. That’s not the plot of a new survival drama. Such a catastrophe nearly occurred last Christmas, according to an alarming recent report by energy regulators that deserves more attention. It was the fifth time in 11 years that power plant failures caused by cold weather jeopardized grid reliability.

Persons: Kim Strassel, Allysia Finley, Dan Henninger, Mark Kelly, Elliott Organizations: Zuma, New York, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, FERC, North American Electric Reliability Corporation Locations: New, New York City

☆ Two-thirds of North America could face power shortages this winter -NERC
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

In its 2023-24 winter outlook, the regulatory authority warned that prolonged, wide-area cold snaps threaten the reliability of bulk power generation and availability of fuel supplies for natural gas-fired generation. "Recent extreme cold weather events have shown that energy delivery disruptions can have devastating consequences for electric and gas consumers in impacted areas," NERC said. It put the U.S. Midwest, Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and South, along with some Canadian provinces, at the highest risk for electricity supply shortages this winter. NERC also found that load forecasting in winter is growing in complexity, and underestimating demand is a risk to reliability in extreme cold temperatures. Flows of gas into pipelines were reduced during Elliott, while demand for the fuel for heating and power generation increased, dramatically lowering line pressures.

Persons: Greenlee Beal, NERC, John Moura, Storm Elliott, Elliott, Anjana Anil, Scott DiSavino, Leslie Adler, Marguerita Choy Organizations: PIKE Energy, REUTERS, North American Electric Reliability Corp, U.S ., PJM, Reliability Corp, Texas, Federal Energy Regulatory, Storm, Consolidated Edison, Thomson Locations: Texas, San Antonio , Texas, U.S, Canada, U.S . Midwest, Northeast, South, New England, MISO , New York, New York City, Bengaluru, New York

☆ Texas Power Grid Seeks to Increase Operating Reserves for Winter Preparation
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-02 | by ( Oct. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

(Reuters) - The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) on Monday to increase operating reserves adding up to an additional 3,000 MW for the upcoming winter peak load season. The RFP seeks capacity from both dispatchable generation and demand response solutions to cover the period of Dec. 1, 2023, through Feb. 29, 2024, the Texas power grid operator added. The capacity request was informed by several factors, mainly significant peak load growth since last winter, proposed retirements of dispatchable generation resources, and extreme winter weather events, added the grid operator. ERCOT which operates the grid for more than 26 million customers hit an all-time high of 85,435 MW on Aug. 10, due to the brutal heat wave. Winter Storm Elliott brought sub-freezing temperatures and extreme weather alerts to about two-thirds of the United States knocking out power for more than 1.5 million homes and businesses.

Persons: Pablo Vegas, MORA, Storm Elliott, Rahul Paswan, Stephen Coates Organizations: Reuters, Reliability, of Texas, Storm Locations: Texas, United States, Bengaluru

☆ Suncor Energy's quarterly profit beats estimates on strong demand
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 8 (Reuters) - Canada's Suncor Energy Inc (SU.TO) reported a better-than-expected first-quarter profit on Monday, helped by steady demand for energy amid crimped global supplies. The results come amid global oil prices pulling back from last year's record highs and trading 20% below on average, but the prices are still higher than historical levels due to tight supplies. On an adjusted basis, the company earned C$1.36 per share, compared with analysts' estimates of C$1.32 per share. Peers Imperial Oil Ltd (IMO.TO) and Cenovus Energy Inc (CVE.TO) had also beat profit estimates last month. Its refinery utilization averaged 76% and the crude throughput was 367,700 barrels per day (bpd), compared with 436,500 bpd last year.

☆ Southwest Airlines vows to increase winter staffing and improve tech after holiday mess
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Leslie Josephs | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Travelers check in at a Southwest Airlines ticket counter during the busy Christmas holiday season at Orlando International Airport on December 28, 2022 in Orlando, Florida. Southwest Airlines ' CEO said the company will increase winter staffing and equipment to help avoid a repeat of mass cancelations over the year-end holidays that cost the company millions of dollars and stranded tens of thousands of travelers. Bitter temperatures during Winter Storm Elliott limited how much time crews were able to spend outside, Southwest said. "We understand the root causes that led to the holiday disruption, and we're validating our internal review with the third-party assessment. "Work is well underway implementing action items to prepare for next winter—with some items already completed."

☆ Canadian Natural Resources Q4 profit misses on lower output, prices
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Companies Canadian Natural Resources Ltd FollowMarch 2 (Reuters) - Canadian Natural Resources Ltd (CNQ.TO) missed market expectations for fourth-quarter profit on Thursday, as the energy firm was hurt by lower liquid prices and severe winter weather that hampered its production. Winter storm Elliott barreled through the United States and Canada in mid-December, hitting several oil production sites along the way that caused freeze-ins and equipment failures. Canadian Natural said its production declined 1.5% to 1.29 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) in the quarter ended Dec. 31. Canadian Natural said its fourth-quarter liquids realized price fell nearly 5% to C$69.34 per barrel. ($1 = 1.3612 Canadian dollars)Reporting by Sourasis Bose in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber, Uttaresh.V and Savio D'SouzaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Dollar Tree sees weak 2023 profit as costs mount, shoppers curb spending
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 1 (Reuters) - Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR.O) forecast full-year profit below Wall Street estimates on Wednesday, as costs mount and consumers restrict spending on discretionary products like apparel and party supplies. Shares of the discount store operator were down about 4% in premarket trading after it also forecast first-quarter profit below expectations. Dollar Tree saw gross margin improve 70 basis points to 30.9% in the fourth quarter, helped by higher initial mark-on and lower freight costs. The company expects 2023 profit between $6.30 and $6.80 per share, well below analysts' estimate of $7.78 in Refinitiv IBES data. However, it forecast 2023 sales between $29.9 billion and $30.5 billion, above estimates of $29.86 billion.

☆ Dollar General cuts holiday-quarter profit forecast as costs bite
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 23 (Reuters) - Dollar General Corp (DG.N) on Thursday lowered its holiday-quarter profit forecast as heavy discounts and higher costs ate into margins. The company also forecast full-year 2023 profit below Wall Street expectations, sending its shares down about 6% in premarket trading. Dollar General said same-store sales increased 5.7% in the fourth quarter ended Feb. 3, missing its forecast of 6% to 7% growth. The company now expects fourth-quarter earnings to be between $2.91 per share and $2.96 per share, compared to its prior forecast of $3.15 per share to $3.30 per share. It expects profit to grow between 4% and 6% this financial year, less than the 10.6% growth analysts on average were expecting, according to Refinitiv data.

Distillate inventories amounted to 118 million barrels on Jan. 27, which was 24 million barrels (-17% or -1.43 standard deviations) below the prior ten-year seasonal average. The inventory deficit has narrowed from 31 million barrels (-22% or -2.05 standard deviations) on Oct. 7 (“Weekly petroleum status report”, U.S. Energy Information Administration, Feb. 1). Chartbook: U.S. distillate fuel oil inventoriesBy contrast, distillate consumption has been restrained by high prices and the marked slowdown in the industrial economy. Growth in distillate consumption peaked in late 2021 and has been weakening steadily since then, with consumption down year-on-year in most months since April 2022. Related columns:- U.S. manufacturing is in recession (Reuters, February 1, 2023)- Recession now or later?

Jan 25 (Reuters) - U.S. crude inventories rose last week as demand for fuels tapered off, and while the increase was less than expected, crude stocks reached the highest level since June 2021, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday. U.S. crude futures rose by more than $1 to a session high of $81.23 on Wednesday morning, before paring gains. Total product supplied, a proxy for fuel demand, fell 867,000 barrels per day to 19.4 million bpd, EIA data showed. Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub (USOICC=ECI) rose by 4.3 million barrels in the last week, the EIA said. Net U.S. crude imports (USOICI=ECI) fell by 1.79 million barrels per day, the EIA said.

☆ U.S. oil refining margins hit 3-month high as plant outages rise
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Shariq Khan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jan 24 (Reuters) - U.S. oil refining margins on Tuesday hit a three-month high and are likely headed higher, analysts said, as unplanned refinery outages weigh on already-tight fuel supplies. The outages have pushed up gasoline prices in Texas and Oklahoma this year ahead of what is expected to be a heavier than usual turnaround season for refineries. The rising prices and margins are unusual for this time of year, when travel falls. Average gasoline prices in Texas hit about $3.07 a gallon on Tuesday, up almost 44 cents from a month ago, according to the AAA motor group. A diesel producing unit at PBF Energy's (PBF.N) Chalmette, Louisiana, refinery was shut following a fire on Saturday.

☆ Union Pacific posts weak profit as storm delays shipments
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jan 24 (Reuters) - Union Pacific Corp (UNP.N) reported lower-than-expected fourth-quarter profit on Tuesday, hurt by delayed shipments amid labor shortages and a winter storm that crippled freight operations across the United States. Union Pacific, which connects 23 states in the western two-thirds of the country by rail, suffered shipment delays over the Christmas period as the winter storm Elliott hit its railroad networks. The storm brought sub-freezing temperatures and impacted business operations nationwide, also causing freeze-ins at several oil production sites. Union Pacific's operating ratio, a key profitability metric for railroads, was 61% in the quarter compared with 57.4% a year earlier. "Revenue growth was more than offset by elevated operating expenses from operational inefficiencies and a higher inflationary environment," Fritz said.

At least 15 U.S. oil refineries plan maintenance ranging from two to 11 weeks through May, tallies by Reuters and refining intelligence firm IIR Energy show. By mid-February, U.S. refiners will drop some 1.4 million barrels per day of processing capacity, double the five-year average, according to IIR. PBF Energy's (PBF.N) Toledo, Ohio, refinery remains largely offline from December, according to two people familiar with the matter. Heating oil margins are $58 per barrel, more than double the year-ago level. U.S. gasoline inventories are 226.8 million barrels, compared to 240.7 million at this time last year, while refinery capacity is 8% lower than before storm Elliott.

☆ Key Senate Democrats push Southwest CEO for answers on holiday meltdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Rebecca Picciotto | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Southwest Airlines Executive Vice President Bob Jordan speaks as he is interviewed by CNBC outside the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., December 9, 2021. The questions push for details about the causes of the meltdown, including Southwest's outdated software and staffing failures. The mass cancellations came alongside an intense snowstorm and elevated holiday travel demand, which posed a challenge to many airlines. The senators' letter also highlights Southwest's use of funds, claiming it neglected to update company-wide systems that have long been out of date. "Southwest has long known that its software was outdated, and the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association had warned that such a debacle was inevitable unless Southwest invested in new scheduling systems," the letter says.

Working gas stocks in underground storage were 293 billion cubic feet (-9%) below the pre-pandemic five-year seasonal average on Dec. 30 compared with a deficit of 71 billion cubic feet (-2%) on Dec. 16. Chartbook: U.S. gas prices and inventoriesTraders no longer fear inventories will run critically low this winter; they are instead preparing to deal with a large surplus that will need to be stored in the summer of 2023. The market moved from a record inventory depletion (-995 billion cubic feet) in January 2022 to a record seasonal accumulation (+442 billion cubic feet) in October 2022. Exports increased by 2,001 billion cubic feet (+54%), mostly in the form of increased LNG exports of 1,418 billion cubic feet (+79%). Related columns:- U.S. gas exports squeeze domestic supply (Reuters, Sept. 29)- U.S. power producers are consuming near-record volumes of gas (Reuters, Aug. 2)- U.S. gas prices climb as stocks fail to rebuild fast enough (Reuters, July 29)- U.S. gas production must accelerate to meet LNG export demand (Reuters, June 1)John Kemp is a Reuters market analyst.

☆ Here are Wednesday's biggest analyst calls: Apple, Tesla, Netflix, Amazon, Salesforce, Levi's & more
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Bank of America downgrades Coinbase to underperform from neutral Bank of America said it sees too many headwinds for the crypto exchange. Goldman Sachs downgrades Jefferies to neutral from buy Goldman said it sees a "backlog decline" for the investment bank company. Bank of America upgrades Toll Brothers and Pulte Group to buy from neutral Bank of America upgraded several homebuilders, citing compelling valuations. "We upgrade PulteGroup to Buy (from Neutral), Toll Brothers to Buy (from Neutral), and Lennar to Neutral (from Underperform). Bank of America upgrades Dow to neutral from underperform Bank of America said it's taking a more "offensive" approach to the stock.

☆ Southwest Airlines reshuffles senior management roles
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Southwest customers visit the help desk after U.S. airlines, led by Southwest, canceled thousands of flights due to a massive winter storm which swept over much of the country before and during the Christmas holiday weekend, at Dallas Love Field Airport in Dallas, Texas, U.S., December 28, 2022. The Texas-based carrier promoted vice president of network planning, Adam Decaire, to senior vice president of network planning and network operations control (NOC), effective immediately. "This change creates a tighter feedback loop between schedule design and schedule execution while adding resiliency and reliability to the network," the carrier said. The carrier on Monday announced key leadership changes in departments including marketing & customer experience, culture & communications, legal-corporate & transactions and sales. Reporting by Aishwarya Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju SamuelOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Buffalo stores' shelves are bare as people try desperately to restock groceries and essential items after deadly winter storm
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Bethany Biron | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Buffalo grocery stores are struggling to keep up with heavy demand after reopening in the wake of Winter Storm Elliott. Local outlets reported bare shelves and a lack of items including fresh produce, bread, and eggs. Response to the storm, and lack of access to essential items, has shed light on structural inequality in the city. Unfortunately they ran out of lunch meat, brown beef, bread, but hopefully we can find everything we want," Carl Phillips and Sandra Jackson told WIVB Buffalo. WIVB Buffalo reporter Sarah Minkewicz shared photos of the empty shelves on Twitter.

☆ Fact Check-Clip of ransacked Walmart store predates December 2022 winter storm
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A video clip of a ransacked Walmart store has been miscaptioned by social media users online, with false claims that the video was filmed during Winter Storm Elliott in Buffalo, New York, in December 2022. Examples of the miscaptioned clip shared online in December 2022 can be viewed (here), (here) and (here). Although a reverse image search did not reveal the exact clip, key word searches revealed a YouTube video uploaded in October 2020 showing a ransacked Walmart store in Pennsylvania (bit.ly/3jzic69). A spokesperson for Walmart said the clip shared in social media does not show a looted store in Buffalo, New York, and told Reuters that it pre-dates the 2022 winter storm. The spokesperson also said that as of Dec. 28 no Walmart store in Buffalo had reported looting during the winter storm.

☆ U.S. regulators to probe power outages during historic winter storm
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Dec 28 (Reuters) - An inquiry will be opened into the power outages caused by extreme weather during historic winter storm Elliott, the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and other North American regulatory authorities said on Wednesday. FERC will probe operations of the bulk power system to identify performance issues and recommend solutions alongside the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) and its six regional entities which encompass nearly 400 million customers, mainly in the U.S. and Canada. "This storm underscores the increasing frequency of significant extreme weather events and underscores the need for the electric sector to change its planning scenarios and preparations for extreme events,” said NERC CEO and President Jim Robb. And this was in the early weeks of a projected 'mild' winter," Robb said. Reporting by Deep Vakil in Bengaluru; Editing by David GregorioOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Southwest Airlines says travellers stranded by holiday meltdown can't rebook until December 31st
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Asia Martin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Southwest Airlines won't rebook any more flights until next year. Southwest was impacted by Winter Storm Elliott. Stranded Southwest customers can't rebook their flights until after December 31, according to a Southwest Airlines official who spoke to the press at Hobby International Airport on Monday. Southwest Airlines canceled nearly 3,000 flights following Winter Storm Elliott — the highest count by far among airlines, according to FlightAware. The fallout stranded travelers across the country over the weekend as airlines could not rebook customers quickly because of the nationwide impact of the storm.

☆ Death toll rises to at least 55 as freezing temperatures and heavy snow wallop swaths of U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Mithil Aggarwal | Melissa Chan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

(Photo by John Normile/Getty Images)A "once-in-a-lifetime" blizzard has killed at least 55 people in the United States, including 25 in western New York's Erie County, officials said Monday morning. Snow was expected to fall in Erie County into Tuesday afternoon. Nationwide, temperatures plummeted, and huge snow drifts have trapped people inside their homes and snarled travel. The medical examiner's office in Erie County determined the 25 deaths there to be directly related to the blizzard, Poloncarz said. The county executive said a "good portion" of those deaths occurred in Buffalo, and that many died from heart problems while shoveling or snow blowing.

☆ Most units shut at Pemex Deer Park, Texas, refinery -sources
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Companies Petroleos Mexicanos FollowDec 25 (Reuters) - Most of the productions units remain shut on Sunday at Pemex's (PEMX.UL) 312,500 barrel-per-day (bpd) Houston-area refinery in Deer Park, Texas, said people familiar with plant operations. The units were idled by severe cold weather from Winter Storm Elliott on Thursday night and Friday, the sources said. One of the problems the refinery faces is much of the steam supply was knocked out by the 47-degree drop in temperatures between Thursday and Friday. Reporting by Erwin SebaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

More than 1.5 million homes and businesses lost power, oil refineries in Texas cut gasoline and diesel production on equipment failures, and heating and power prices surged on the losses. Oil and gas output from North Dakota to Texas suffered freeze-ins, cutting supplies. Freeze-ins - in which ice crystals halt oil and gas production - this week trimmed production in North Dakota's oilfields by 300,000 to 350,000 barrels per day, or a third of normal. Power prices on Texas's grid also spiked to $3,700 per megawatt hour, prompting generators to add more power to the grid before prices fell back as thermal and solar supplies came online. That is the biggest drop in output since the February 2021 freeze knocked out power for millions in Texas.

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