Energy supply fears over Hurricane Gustav quickly eased as refineries reported mostly minor damage and came back online within days of the Labor Day storm.
Only hours after Gustav’s arrival, Placid Refining Co. in Port Allen supplied Broussard-based Macro Oil Co., which was designated by the state to supply gasoline and diesel for emergency needs like hospital generators or emergency vehicles. Placid also provided fuel to emergency responders like fire departments, police and parish vehicles at a temporary fueling station.
Joey Hagmann, Placid’s refinery manager, says the facility sustained minor damage. The refinery, which was coming out of a maintenance turnaround in August, had stored additional volume and arranged to get additional oil by pipeline. When Gustav knocked out electricity, generator power allowed the company to operate its truck rack to load emergency fuel.
ExxonMobil also experienced a power outage and minor damage from the hurricane; repairs were ongoing as of Sept. 12. Spokesman George Pietrogallo Jr. says they are still producing gasoline and chemical products, although full operation isn’t anticipated for as much as 10 days. Since the storm hit, ExxonMobil Corp. has delivered 2.8 million gallons of fuel to Exxon, Mobil and other area stations.
“Louisiana refineries are doing quite well,” says Larry Wall, director of public relations with the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association. Many of them, like Placid Refining, avoided shortages by building up fuel supplies or arranging for additional supplies in anticipation of the storm.
Eleven of the state’s 17 refineries shut down, while the rest reduced operations in anticipation of Gustav, Wall says. Collectively, they represent 17% of the nation’s refining capacity and refine 2.9 million barrels of oil a day. With mostly minor damages reported from Gustav, all but one had resumed operations by Sept. 12, easing worries about supply and price increases.
The storm did pose two issues for refineries with regaining electricity and access, he says. Most of them got power back shortly after the storm and quickly resolved access issues such as clearing channels to resume operations, easing market worries about supply and price increases.
Less than two weeks after Gustav, Hurricane Ike threatened much of the same area. Energy companies mostly chose not to resume operations and jeopardize crews in anticipation of the storm, which made landfall on Sept. 13 near Galveston, Texas. Texas represents 45% [4.8 million barrels a day] of the nation’s refining capacity and Louisiana 25% [2.9 million].
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Supply and price fears again arose, but Wall says the supply was supplemented by other sources including the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Louisiana Offshore Oil Port foreign imports and other pipelines and barges. A run on local gas stations took place Thursday, Sept. 11 after reports suggested gas prices could hit $5 a gallon because of Ike; a large increase did not materialize.
Citing supply disruptions, the U.S. Department of Energy approved Garyville-based Marathon Oil Corp.’s request for 250,000 barrels from the reserve, which loans oil in emergencies. On Sept. 11, the DOE also announced approval of another 250,000 barrels to Marathon and 130,000 barrels to Placid Oil. In making the requests, the companies cited disruptions in supply caused by Gustav.
IN HARM’S WAY
U.S. refineries located in the path of hurricanes Gustav and Ike and their ranking by barrels per calendar day:
Rank--Company--Site--Barrels per day
1--ExxonMobil--Baytown, Texas--567,000
2--ExxonMobil--Baton Rouge--503,000
3--BP--Texas City, Texas--467,720
4--Citgo--Lake Charles--429,500
6--ExxonMobil--Beaumont, Texas--348,500
8--Chevron USA--Pascagoula, Miss.--330,000
9--Deer Park--Deer Park, Texas--329,800
11--Premcor--Port Arthur, Texas--289,000
13--Flint Hills--Corpus Christi, Texas--288,126
14--Motiva--Port Arthur, Texas--285,000
15--Houston--Houston--270,600
18--Marathon--Garyville--256,000
19--ConocoPhillips--Belle Chasse--247,000
20--ConocoPhillips--Sweeny, Texas--247,000
22--ConocoPhillips--Westlake--239,400
25--Motiva--Norco--236,400
26--Motiva--Convent--235,000
27--Total--Port Arthur, Texas--232,000
32--Valero--Texas City, Texas--199,500
34--Chalmette--Chalmette--192,760
35--Valero--Norco--185,003
45--Citgo--Corpus Christi, Texas--156,000
53--Valero--Corpus Christi, Texas--142,000
57--Murphy Oil--Meraux--120,000
63--Pasadena--Pasadena, Texas--100,000
66--Valero--Three Rivers, Texas--93,000
71--Valero--Houston--83,000
75--Valero--Krotz Springs--80,000
76--Calcasieu--Lake Charles--78,000
79--Marathon--Texas City, Texas--76,000
94--Delek--Tyler, Texas--58,000
97--Placid--Port Allen--56,000
98--Shell--St. Rose--55,000
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