| Energy Markets Report (July 21 - July 25, 2008) |
Highlights:
- Last week electricity peak prices fell $6-46/MWh at all hubs. Falling gas prices and lower demand were the reasons for the declines. NEPOOL and PJM West peak prices fell $29-46/MWh (see pages 1 and 3).
- Gas prices at the Henry Hub decreased $1.30 to $10.16/MMBtu. “The price declines over the period likely can be attributed to falling crude oil prices and easing concerns about the sufficiency of natural gas supplies following a larger-than-expected report of net injections into working gas storage last Thursday, July 17. These declines occurred despite the countervailing effects of sustained warm temperatures throughout the Lower 48 States and the potential threat to offshore natural gas production by the formation of Hurricane Dolly in the Gulf of Mexico” (EIA, see pages 1 and 3).
- Estimated nuclear plant availability remained at 99 percent last week. Farley 1 had to shut down because its two emergency diesel generators shut down (one planned and one unplanned) for maintenance (see pages 2 and 4). U.S. nuclear plants averaged a 100 percent availability factor on Tuesday, July 22. According to Energy Intelligence’s Natural Gas Week July 14 issue, the “nation’s [nuclear] fleet showed almost a 100% attendance rate late last week.” As a result, the “total natural gas needed to replace downed nuclear power” for the week was at its lowest in years.
- For the week ending July 18, crude oil prices for West Texas Intermediate decreased for the second week in a row to $132.92/barrel, $7.79/barrel lower than the previous week. Crude oil futures last week traded between $128-130/barrel for the one, six and twelve months ahead (see pages 1, 2 and 3).
- For the week ending July 18, U.S. electricity production was 2.7 percent higher than the same one-week period in 2007. U.S. electricity production for the first 29 weeks of 2008 is only 0.6 percent higher than the same period in 2007 (see page 1).
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Publications |
Aug 1, 2008 |
