(Reuters) – Energy facilities along the U.S. Gulf Coast have begun scaling back operations and evacuating some production sites as Tropical Storm Francine swept through the energy-rich region, and was poised to strengthen into a hurricane later on Tuesday.
Francine was advancing toward the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, set to become the fourth hurricane of the Atlantic season, which concludes on Nov. 30. Francine could intensify into a category 2 hurricane, ahead of its expected landfall along the Louisiana coast on Wednesday evening, the National Hurricane Center said.
Offshore production in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, which accounts for approximately 1.8 million barrels per day or about 15% of the nation’s total crude output, could face disruptions as the storm progresses. Such interruptions have the potential to affect U.S. oil supplies, leading to upward pressure on prices for domestic oil and offshore crude grades.
The port of Brownsville near the border with Mexico and other smaller terminals in Texas remained closed on Tuesday, while other ports, including Houston, Galveston, Corpus Christi, Texas City and Freeport, were working with restrictions.
“As Francine moves north through the Gulf of Mexico, we will continue to work closely with our maritime industry partners to fully reopen impacted ports as soon as it is safe to do so,” the U.S. Coast Guard said.
OPERATOR FACILITY CAPACITY DATE DETAILS
ExxonMobil (NYSE:) Hoover offshore platform – Sept. 09 Shut-in output and evacuated staff
Chevron (NYSE:) Gulf of Mexico – Sept. 09 Evacuating
facilitiesAnchor platform, non-essential staff from four
Tahiti oil platform offshore platforms, shutting in
oil and gas output at two offshore
production platforms
Shell (LON:) Perdido oil platform, Whale 125,000 barrels of oil Sept. 10 Evacuating
platform, Auger and equivalent per day non-essential personnel from three
Enchailada/Salsa assets (boe/d) for Perdido oil offshore oil platforms, paused
platform; 100,000 boe/d drilling operations at Whale
for Whale platform platform, shut in production at
three assets.
Freeport (LNG) LNG export plant in Texas 2.1 billion cubic feet Sept. 09 Begun storm preparations at its
per day Texas plant
Cameron (LNG) LNG export plant in Louisiana – Sept. 10 Amount of flowing to
the export plant dropped
Enbridge (NYSE:) Inc South Marsh Island 76,Ship – Sept. 10 Pulled employees from
Shoal 207, 332 platforms several offshore U.S. Gulf of
Mexico platforms
Kinder Morgan (NYSE:) Marine terminal in Myrtle – Sept. 10 Shut its international
Grove, Louisiana marine terminal in Myrtle Grove,
Louisiana
Citgo Lake Charles, Louisiana 463,000 barrels of oil Sept. 10 Adjusting operations
refinery per day as required
Woodside (OTC:) Energy U.S. offshore, Louisiana – Sept. 10 -Partially evacuating personnel
coastal operations from its Shenzi oil production
facility -Fully evacuating staff
from its coastal shorebase and
warehouse facilities in Louisiana
Sabine Pass LNG 4.7 billion Sept. 10 LNG production at
Cheniere Energy (NYSE:) terminal, Louisiana cubic feet per day Sabine Pass remains
uninterrupted
