TXOGA Issues Winter Weather Situation Report

In a winter weather situation report sent to Rigzone late Monday, the Texas Oil & Gas Association (TXOGA) said the state’s natural gas production, processing, transmission, and storage sectors continue to have needed production and storage.

“No significant changes in production, pressures or availability have been reported,” TXOGA noted in the statement.

“Overall conditions have been stable even with the cold temperatures. Personnel are in place to maintain operations,” it added.

In the statement, TXOGA highlighted that the Texas Railroad Commission (RRC) “has issued a notice to operators preparing for the upcoming freezing weather and potential snow/ice”.

“Oil and gas operators and pipelines are preparing assets and implementing cold weather contingencies with ample storage and available gas,” TXOGA said.

“No reports of concerns or impacts at this time. Reports indicate generators are preparing and activating their cold weather preparedness plans and have been working with suppliers to ensure continuous operations,” it noted.

“Transmission providers have also indicated they have been conducting cold weather training and preparations and have put staffing and other needs in place and in preparation for any potential issues resulting from potential weather events,” it continued.

“TxDOT has been pretreating roads ahead of expected weather activity,” TXOGA went on to state.

In a statement posted on its website on January 6, the RRC said, “for more than a month”, it has “taken important steps to help ensure adequate natural gas supply for winter weather, including this week’s wintry conditions”.

“Starting in the first week of December, RRC’s Critical Infrastructure Division (CID) began weatherization inspections of critical natural gas facilities in the state’s electricity supply chain,” it added.

CID has conducted more than 1,200 inspections, according to the RRC statement. These include “all of what are known as Tier One facilities”, the statement highlighted.

The RRC also pointed out in the statement that there was 522,396 billion cubic feet of working natural gas in underground storage in Texas as of the end of November 2024. It said this is the highest monthly total in the 25 years the RRC has tracked storage volumes.

“Natural gas that is stored underground is also an important resource that can be withdrawn and utilized during weather emergencies,” the RRC noted in the statement.

“As we have done in past cycles, we will continue to stay on top of bad winter weather with inspections and calls with oil and gas operators,” Danny Sorrells, RRC Deputy Executive Director, said in the statement.

“We take every step we can to make sure gas flows to power plants and for home heating, and we want to reassure Texans that the agency takes an all-hands-on deck approach to protect residents in weather emergencies,” he added.

The RRC stated that its winter weatherization inspections of critical natural gas facilities last through the end of March.

TXOGA’s winter weather situation report also highlighted that the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) reported normal operations as of Monday, January 6 at 3:15pm.

“Peak demand occurred at 8.10am. Available capacity at peak demand was 83,950 MW, with demand at 68,271 MW. There was enough power to meet demand,” TXOGA said.

In a statement posted on its website on January 5, ERCOT issued a weather watch from January 6-10 “due to forecasted cold weather across the ERCOT region, higher electrical demand, and the potential for lower reserves”.

“Grid conditions are expected to be normal during an ERCOT weather watch,” ERCOT added in the statement.

“ERCOT is monitoring conditions closely and will deploy all available tools to manage the grid, continuing a reliability-first approach to operations,” it continued.

To contact the author, email andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com