Xcel Wildfire Blame, Citgo Sinking Profit: Your Daily Energy News

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News highlights gathered by Industrial Info and IIR Energy (Sugar Land, Texas) dealing with the energy markets.

CORPORATE
Xcel Energy Says Its Facilities Likely Started Texas Wildfire - Electric utility Xcel Energy Incorporated (NASDAQ:XEL) (Minneapolis, Minnesota) said on Thursday its facilities likely started the Smokehouse Creek fire, which has destroyed dozens of homes and charred cattle ranches in the largest wildfire in recorded Texas history. "Based on currently available information, Xcel Energy acknowledges that its facilities appear to have been involved in an ignition of the Smokehouse Creek fire," Xcel wrote in a statement. The company faces at least two lawsuits claiming it negligently failed to properly maintain electrical infrastructure linked to the blaze. Xcel disputed "claims that it acted negligently in maintaining and operating its infrastructure." (Reuters)

NATURAL GAS
Europe's Mild Winter Leads to High Amount of Natural Gas in Storage - Europe is on track to end the winter with a record volume of natural gas in storage, which has pushed futures prices back to pre-crisis levels once inflation is taken into account. Storage facilities across the European Union and the United Kingdom were 62% full on March 5, compared with an average of 41% full on the same date between 2011 and 2020. The supply picture has been transformed from two years ago, when traders and policymakers were worried about possible gas shortages following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. (Reuters)

EARNINGS REPORTS
Citgo's Quarterly Profit Declines - Refiner Citgo Petroleum (Houston, Texas) on Thursday reported fourth-quarter net profit fell 81% to $154 million, from $806 million a year ago, on plant outages and weaker margins. The company, which operates three U.S. refineries, reported full-year 2023 profit was $2 billion, down from the $2.8 billion a year ago, which was the largest in its history. (Reuters)

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Energy asset information on power plants, oil refineries and natural gas infrastructure is now more important than ever. A unit of Industrial Info Resources, IIR Energy provides infrastructure information on these assets, as well as real-time tracking of planned and unplanned interruptions affecting the commodity-trading community. We are the number one source for information about power plant outages, refinery turnarounds and midstream natural gas disruptions.