After a rare earthquake on Tuesday, the nation's capital is bracing for Hurricane Irene, which was expected to plow through the area over the weekend. What's next, a plague of frogs?

Seriously, hurricanes are serious business. Fortunately, the oil and natural gas industry has lots of experience preparing for them because of the concentration of refineries and pipeline heads in the Gulf region. Irene will miss those, but refineries in Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, as well as pipeline companies are preparing for the storm's advance. Check here for information on the ways industry prepares for hurricanes.

The main point is the industry's focus is on preparedness, safety and working with government officials to make sure consumers have products:

"Market forces and the cooperation of g... more »

About one-quarter of U.S. oil production and nearly 10 percent of natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico has been shut-in due to Hurricane Alex, the first June hurricane to develop in the Atlantic region since 1995.

The federal government reported yesterday that 28 production platforms and three rigs had been evacuated as operators moved personnel to safety. The storm is expected to make landfall on Wednesday near the Texas-Mexico border.

As oil workers wait to return to their offshore jobs, thousands of others are wondering about whether they will have jobs under the administration's deepwater drilling moratorium.

According to an Oil Daily report, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) estimates Louisiana alone could lose up to 38,000 jobs. MidSouth Bank President Rusty Cloutier told Oil Daily t... more »

The U.S. Coast Guard and BP sent oil skimming boats back to port this morning as Tropical Storm Alex gained strength and threatened to become the first Gulf hurricane of 2010.

Although it remains south of the oil spill and is heading toward the Texas-Mexico border, it could cause high waves and force BP to delay its installation of a third oil containment unit. Officials say they need a few days of calm seas to connect the new unit to the well.

On Monday, several oil company executives and API met with U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar about the deepwater drilling moratorium and other spill-related issues. As we reported yesterday, the administration is asking a federal court to keep the ban in place by delaying a lower court... more »

At least three oil companies announced yesterday they were shutting in some production as Ida began to bear down on oil and natural gas facilities in the Gulf of Mexico. BP, Chevron and Marathon reduced production and evacuated some of their offshore facilities. Also, the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP) stopped offloading tankers as sea conditions began to deteriorate.

At 9:00 a.m. central time this morning, Ida was downgraded to a tropical storm. According to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) bulletin, the storm is expected make landfall along the northern Gulf coast on Tuesday morning and turn east, delivering heavy rain to the Southeast portion of the United States.

Whenever there is a threat from a hurricane or tropical storm, the oil and natural gas industry... more »

In this week's episode, I talk with Al Mannato, fuels issues manager at API, about how the oil and natural gas industry plans to continue supplying fuels to the United States in the aftermath of hurricanes.

Use the audio player below to listen to my conversation with Mr. Mannato and follow along with the show notes. I hope you find the podcast informative.

Show Notes

00:17 It's been nearly four years since the Gulf Coast was struck by Katrina and Rita, the two hurricanes that lead to widespread destruction and loss of life in coastal communities. Last year, we again faced back-to-back hurricanes--Gustav and Ike. As you might recall, the storms also damaged refineries, reduced or eliminated power to pipelines and led to tight fuel supplies in parts of the country.

00:44 The oil and... more »