Oil production in the Permian Basin (Texas) has collapsed by a million barrels per day due to record cold weather, writes Bloomberg.
The Permian Basin is the center of the US shale industry. The temperature there dropped to minus 18 degrees, which became a record figure since 1989. “The loss of American production looks significant,” said Gary Ross, manager of hedge fund Black Gold Investors LLC.
They are associated with the closure of wells, disruption of road transport and power outages. Extreme cold weather has already resulted in equipment breakdowns at several gas processing plants in the Permian Basin and the Anadarko Basin in Oklahoma.
The cold has led to a sharp increase in fuel demand. WTI (West Texas Intermediate) oil quotes rose two percent (to $ 60.6 per barrel), a record high for this grade since January last year.
Earlier it was reported that the cold front, dubbed “The Beast from the East 2”, continues to devastate underground gas storage facilities in Europe. On the morning of February 14, they were 42.65 percent full. This turned out to be 4.86 points below the average for the last five years.