According to data from Poweroutage.us, as of Thursday noon, about 500,000 households and businesses in Texas were still without power, a significant decrease from over 3 million on Wednesday. Grid operators reported that power plants forced to shut down due to the cold were gradually coming back online, but around 40 gigawatts of generating units remained offline—enough to power 8 million homes if operational.
The Texas government has intervened in the state's natural gas industry, banning natural gas producers from shipping gas out-of-state for electricity generation and heating. This move is helping accelerate the restoration of normal natural gas supplies in the state.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said at a media briefing on Wednesday that he had issued an order prohibiting the sale of natural gas to out-of-state power companies, effective until February 21, requiring natural gas producers to sell their gas to in-state power plants.
In addition, the Lieutenant Governor of Texas stated that the Texas Senate would begin investigating the (weather-related) disaster next week.
As the most severe natural gas supply pressures may have passed, traders said that spot prices for natural gas in Oklahoma plunged 99% on Thursday. On Thursday, the price for next-day delivery of natural gas at the Oneok natural gas hub in Oklahoma was $10 or less per million British thermal units (MMBtu), down from $1,250 the previous day.
International oil prices ended multiple days of gains on Thursday, reversing course to close more than 2% lower, with WTI crude dropping nearly $2.5 during the session. Oil prices continued their decline in Friday's Asian trading session, with WTI crude futures...