NEW YORK, Sept 7 (Reuters) – Kansas-based Lario Logistics said it will open a 100,000 barrel-per-day crude-by-rail terminal in North Dakota’s Bakken Shale oil area this month, a move that will boost the region’s capacity to ship crude on railways by about 75 percent.

Lario’s terminal, known as the Bakken Oil Express (BOE) and located near Dickinson, North Dakota, will serve oil shippers including the Wyoming-based True Companies, which hold oil and gas stakes in several North American regions, BOE managing director Steve Magness said in an interview on Wednesday.

“As production grows, rail is a medium and even long-term solution to get crude out of the area,” Magness said.

North Dakota oil production has tripled in four years, reaching 380,000 bpd in June.

Crude-by rail terminals have emerged to ship oil to regions with greater refining capacity, including Cushing, Oklahoma, or as far south as St. James, Louisiana, the site of two other crude-by-rail terminals. [ID:nN1E77H0MR]

Logistics industry sources say that a quarter of Bakken’s oil production already moves by rail, and they put current loading capacity in the region around 130,000 bpd.

Oil loaded at the BOE can be sent to several other market regions, Magness added. He declined to discuss where True or other shippers, who may use the terminal, would send the crude.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil fell on Friday as stalled U.S. job growth in August rekindled worries there will be another recession, which would slow oil and gasoline use, traders said.

Pressure from the jobs data more than offset support from oil companies shutting down nearly half of the production in the Gulf of Mexico ahead of Tropical Storm Lee.

U.S. nonfarm payrolls were unchanged last month, the Labor Department said on Friday. The weakest job reading in a year bucked economists’ expectations for a gain of 75,000 jobs.

Stunted growth could weigh on fuel demand, but it may also raise the odds of more quantitative easing (QE) from by the U.S. Fed. That could cheapen borrowing, weaken the dollar, and encourage investment in commodities as an asset class.

“The (jobs) data reinforces our concern that the U.S. economy has stalled, and we think there is a 60 percent chance it will fall into recession by the end of the year or at the start of next year,” said Rachel Ziemba at Roubini Global Economics in London.

“We think QE3 is coming,” she said.

By 2:15 p.m. EDT (1808 GMT), Brent was trading $2.46 lower at $111.83 a barrel and U.S. crude was down $2.90 at $86.03.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Energy firms along the Eastern Seaboard scrambled on Monday to resume operations after Hurricane Irene left millions of customers without power.

Refineries and other energy facilities escaped serious damage, while utilities, whose power lines were battered by the storm over the weekend, faced the most daunting workload, with over 5 million homes and businesses from North Carolina to Maine still cut off on Monday.

Restoring power could take days, and up to weeks in the hardest-hit zones, due to flooding and strewn debris.

“Irene was weaker than some expected, but it will probably take a week to restore power to some areas,” said energy analyst Peter Beutel of Cameron Hanover in Connecticut.

“The storm shouldn’t have a permanent impact on energy infrastructure.”

One of the hardest hit refiner was Sunoco, which shut a crude unit at its Philadelphia refinery after a pump was flooded, sources said. The company was boosting output at another Pennsylvania plant, Marcus Hook.

ConocoPhillips’ 238,000 barrel per day (bpd) Bayway oil refinery in Linden, New Jersey also shut down on Saturday but was due to restart on Monday, a source familiar with the plant said.

NEW YORK, Aug 29 (Reuters) – Energy firms along the U.S. Eastern Seaboard scrambled on Monday to resume operations after Hurricane Irene left 5.5 million customers without power.

Utility firms whose transmission lines were battered by the storm over the weekend faced the most daunting workload, with millions of homes and businesses from North Carolina to Maine still cut off. They said the work would take days, and up to weeks in the hardest-hit zones, as they dealt with flooding and debris.

“Irene was weaker than some expected, but it will probably take a week to restore power to some areas,” said energy analyst Peter Beutel of Cameron Hanover in Connecticut.

“The storm shouldn’t have a permanent impact on energy infrastructure.”

ConocoPhillips’ (COP.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) 238,000 barrel per day (bpd) Bayway oil refinery in Linden, New Jersey was due to restart on Monday after closing Saturday, a source familiar with the plant said.

Sunoco (SUN.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) shut a crude unit at its Philadelphia refinery after a pump was flooded, sources said. The company was boosting output at another Pennsylvania plant, Marcus Hook. [ID:nN1E77S0P3] [ID:nN1E77S0OK].

Other East Coast refineries that throttled back for Irene were resuming normal operations.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Energy firms along the U.S. Eastern Seaboard scrambled on Monday to resume operations after Hurricane Irene that left 5.5 million customers without electric power.

Utility firms whose transmission lines were battered by the storm, which hit over the weekend, faced the most daunting workload ahead, with millions of homes and businesses from North Carolina to Maine still cut off. Crews said the work would take days, and up to weeks in the hardest-hit zones, as they dealt with flooding and debris.

ConocoPhillips’ 238,000 barrel per day (bpd) Bayway oil refinery in Linden, New Jersey was due to restart on Monday after closing for safety on Saturday, a source familiar with the plant said.

Sunoco’s Girard Point section of its Philadelphia refinery shut a crude unit after a charge pump was flooded, sources said, but the company was restoring output at its Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania plant.

Other refineries were restoring operations, however.

One nuclear power reactor at Constellation Energy’s Calvert Cliffs facility in Maryland remained shut after being struck by wind-blown debris on Sunday, but the company said the plant was safe. Others nuclear plants that cut some generation were preparing to resume normal operations, while Exelon Corp’s Oyster Creek plant in New Jersey, which supplies up to 600,000 homes, remained offline.

POWER GRIDS HARDEST-HIT

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Hurricane Irene knocked out power to 2.5 million homes and businesses, forced two nuclear plants to shut and idled oil ports and refining as it advanced towards New York City early on Sunday.

Mid-Atlantic coast states reported more power losses even as the hurricane spun northward and blackouts in Delaware, New Jersey and New York jumped.

The category 1 hurricane made landfall in New Jersey before dawn with 75 mile-per-hour winds, dumping heavy rain and provoking storm surges.

In New York City, more than 70,000 customers had power outages. Consolidated Edison, which powers nearly 3 million homes and businesses in the city, warned that flooding could prompt wider power cuts in downtown Manhattan.

Two East Coast nuclear power plants shut to ensure safety. Aluminium siding flew off a building in Maryland and slammed into a transformer at CENG’s Calvert Cliff reactor early Sunday, forcing it to shut. The plant declared an “unusual event,” or low-level emergency, but said the reactor was safe.

As a precaution against winds, Exelon Corp took its Oyster Creek nuclear power plant in New Jersey offline on Saturday. The plant normally supplies electricity to as many as 600,000 homes.

Several East Coast oil refineries throttled back operations and ConocoPhillips shut its Bayway plant in New Jersey.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Hurricane Irene knocked out power to 1.8 million homes and businesses, disrupted oil refineries and forced nuclear plants to reduce power as it barreled toward New York City.

As the Southeast made small progress toward restoring power as Irene spun northward, blackouts in Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey jumped.

Only 19,000 customers faced outages in New York City, but Consolidated Edison warned that downtown Manhattan, including Wall Street, could face further blackouts as low lying areas flooded.

Local forecasters said the path of Irene was shifting westward, raising the prospect of 10-foot storm surges.

Several East Coast refineries were forced to cut back on runs, while ConocoPhillips shut its Bayway plant in New Jersey. Other refiners in Pennsylvania and New Jersey throttled back on throughput or prepared for the full impact of the storm.

The U.S. Coast Guard closed the Port of Philadelphia, an oil hub, and restricted some vessel traffic at the larger hub of New York Harbor, which stayed open.

Power generator Exelon idled the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant in Ocean County, New Jersey, as a precaution. The plant supplies up to 600,000 homes.

NEW YORK, Aug 28 (Reuters) – Hurricane Irene knocked out power to 1.8 million homes and businesses, disrupted oil refineries and forced nuclear plants to reduce power as it barrelled toward New York City.

As the Southeast made small progress toward restoring power as Irene spun northward, blackouts in Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey jumped.

Only 19,000 customers faced outages in New York City, but Consolidated Edison (ED.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) warned that downtown Manhattan, including Wall Street, could face further blackouts as low lying areas flooded.

Local forecasters said the path of Irene was shifting westward, raising the prospect of 10-foot storm surges.

Several East Coast refineries were forced to cut back on runs, while ConocoPhillips (COP.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) shut its Bayway plant in New Jersey. Other refiners in Pennsylvania and New Jersey throttled back on throughput or prepared for the full impact of the storm.

The U.S. Coast Guard closed the Port of Philadelphia, an oil hub, and restricted some vessel traffic at the larger hub of New York Harbor, which stayed open. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Factbox: Irene-related power outages [ID:nN1E77Q05B] Factbox: Energy cos, refiners brace for Irene[ID:nN1E77Q047] Factbox: US nuclear plants in Irene’s path [ID:nN1E77P179] Hurricane Irene hits East Coast [ID:nSTORM] Reuters Hurricane Tracker: r.reuters.com/san78n National Hurricane Center: www.nhc.noaa.gov Weather Underground: www.wunderground.com/tropical ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>

Power generator Exelon idled the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant in Ocean County, New Jersey, as a precaution. The plant supplies up to 600,000 homes.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Energy companies on Friday activated emergency plans as the densely populated U.S. East Coast braced for blackouts from Hurricane Irene that could affect millions.

Oil refineries in the U.S. Northeast scaled back operations and pipeline operators warned of potential delays for fuel distribution. The Coast Guard said it had no plans yet to shut the New York Harbor, but energy traders said delays could affect the delivery hub for millions of barrels a day in crude and oil products, by pipeline, barge and ship.

Storm-caused blackouts could be a huge menace, energy experts, meteorologists and U.S. officials warned.

“The range of possibilities from this storm is enormous,” said energy analyst Tim Evans at Citi Futures in New York.

“We could see anything from blackouts putting the entire Northeast in the dark, to only very localized problems.”

At 2 p.m. (1800 GMT), Irene’s center was 300 miles south-southwest of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, churning northward. It weakened early Friday to a Category 2 hurricane from a 3 on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, but was expected to retain hurricane force and scour the length of the mid-Atlantic coast on Sunday.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency said power outages could last days, with flash flooding in coastal areas and strong winds expected to reach far inland.

NEW YORK, Aug 26 (Reuters) – The densely populated U.S. Northeast braced for blackouts from Hurricane Irene and energy firms activated emergency plans, warning of disruptions ahead even as many continued to operate normally on Friday.

The Coast Guard said it had no immediate plan to shut the New York Harbor, a delivery hub for millions of barrels a day in crude and oil products. The hub handles shipments from ships, barges and pipelines.

East Coast oil refineries, which process up to 1.6 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude, planned to brave Irene without total shutdowns. But some were scaling back, the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association (NPRA) said.

Sunoco’s Marcus Hook refinery in coastal Pennsylvania has cut rates by 25 percent to 140,000 bpd, a source familiar said.

Experts warned that electricity outages could hit the region hardest.

“The range of possibilities from this storm is enormous,” said energy analyst Tim Evans at Citi Futures in New York.

“We could see anything from blackouts putting the entire Northeast in the dark, to only very localized problems.”