Cold weather paralyzes the US: power plants are shutting down, gas pipelines are frozen

A powerful winter storm in the United States paralyzed the country on Sunday. Millions of people were left without power due to grid overloads and downed lines. Two-thirds of the states were blanketed by a mixture of snow and freezing rain, exacerbated by severe Arctic cold. Tens of thousands of flights were canceled, and people were urged to stay home for safety. Airports serving major metropolitan areas, including New York and Philadelphia, canceled at least 80% of Sunday flights, according to FlightAware data.

The severe weather also reportedly impacted power plants, with some shutting down in emergency mode due to overload. Warnings about the danger and the possibility of cold and darkness were sent to more than 120 million people.

The winter storm sweeping the United States has already begun to disrupt oil and gas operations along the Gulf Coast of Texas, including refineries, chemical plants and the liquefaction industry.

Currently, nearly 10% of US natural gas production, by conservative estimates, has been disrupted by the cold. Goodyear Bayport shut down its chemical plant in Pasadena, Texas, on Saturday, preparing its infrastructure for deep freeze conditions.

Exxon Mobil Corp. reports that some oil production units in Texas were shut down due to freezing weather. Celanese Corp. halted operations at a chemical plant in the Houston area as conditions worsened. Texas Instruments' operations were also affected.

Natural gas production in the US fell by approximately 50 million cubic meters as freezing weather froze pipelines, blocking market supply, even as demand for the fuel increased by approximately 75 million cubic meters, according to BNEF. The difference is pushing prices skyrocketing: the price of natural gas in the US hasn't risen above $6,2 per standard volume in a long time.

For oil traders, the slowdown in industrial operations could complicate the market and fuel speculation that could push up oil prices as the storm reduces crude consumption.

An Energy Transfer plant in the Permian Basin oil producing region of West Texas that received "off-spec" gas, or gas that doesn't meet industry standards, said by the weekend that the problem was caused by cold temperatures affecting its pipes.

The severe weather literally brought America to a standstill, according to American media. The country failed its first major seasonal test.