U.S. Coast Guard says hurricane may shut oil ports
Adds Citgo reducing production at Corpus Christi refinery
By Erwin Seba and Arathy Somasekhar
HOUSTON, July 6 (Reuters) -The U.S. Coast Guard warned of possible Texas port closures from Corpus Christi to Houston and began restricting vessel trafficbecause of Tropical StormBeryl, which is expected to become a hurricane before making landfall by Monday morning at PortLavaca.
Port closures could bring to a temporary halt shipments of crude oil to refineries and motor fuels from those plants.
Port condition "Yankee" was set by the Coast Guardcaptain of the port of Corpus Christi on Saturday afternoon, restricting vessel movement in ports from Matagorda Bay, 101 miles (163 km) southwest of Houston, to the U.S.-Mexico border.
Citgo Petroleum Corp was cutting production at its 165,000 barrel-per-day Corpus Christi, Texas, refinery on Saturday ahead of the approach of Beryl to the Texas coast.
Citgo plans to keep the Corpus Christi refinery running at minimum production as the storm moves up the coast toward a projected landfall at Port Lavaca, a pipeline hub.
Oil producer Shell Plc SHEL.L completed the evacuation of workers from its Perdido production platform in the U.S.-regulated Gulf of Mexico ahead of the approach of the storm, the company said on Friday night.
Production on Perdido was shut prior to the evacuations. Shell said it also evacuated workers from the Whale platform, which is due to start production later this year.
Gibson Energy GEI.TO, which operates a large oil terminal in Corpus Christi, said operations were continuing, but it would take further steps depending on the forecast.
The storm was moving on Saturday with maximum sustained winds near 60 mph (95 kmh), the National Hurricane Center said.
The latest forecasts would put Corpus Christi on the dry side of the storm where the lowest winds and least rain could be expected. But Beryl could bring gale-force winds to the port, which is why the Coast Guard restricts traffic or shuts the port.
Most of the northern Gulf's offshore oil and gas production is east of Beryl's forecast track.
U.S. Gulf of Mexico offshore production of about 1.8 million barrels per day accounts for about 14% of total U.S. crude output, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Any impact on supplies could push up prices of U.S. oil and offshore crude grades.
Oil major Chevron Corp CVX.N, among the biggest U.S. offshore producers, said on Friday that production from its operated assets remained normal. But it evacuated nonessential personnel from some of its Gulf of Mexico facilities.
Murphy Oil Corp MUR.N said it has not shut in production or evacuated personnel, and continues to monitor the storm.
Reporting by Erwin Seba and Arathy Somasekhar; editing by Marianna Parraga, Diane Craft and Leslie Adler
Related Assets
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
