At 1 p.m. CDT, the center of Hurricane Sally was located about 60 miles (95 km) east of the mouth of the Mississippi River and about 105 miles (165 km) south of Mobile, Alabama. Image courtesy NOAA/GOES
By Erwin Seba HOUSTON, Sept 15 (Reuters) – More than a quarter of U.S. offshore oil and gas production was shut and key exporting ports were closed on Tuesday as Hurricane Sally churned off the U.S. Gulf Coast, flooding coastal cities and pelting states with heavy rains.
Sally continued to weaken Tuesday afternoon to a Category 1 hurricane on Tuesday and largely stalled offshore with sustained winds of 80 miles per hour (128 kph). It is expected to bring life-threatening flooding through Wednesday from Mississippi to Florida, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
The storm’s trajectory takes it through the prime U.S. offshore production areas on a path toward western Alabama, sparing some larger Gulf Coast refineries from high winds.
Royal Dutch Shell said it shut its Appomattox oil platform about 80 miles off the coast of Louisiana, joining BP , Chevron Corp and Equinor in closing facilities less than one month after Hurricane Laura forced up to 1.5 million barrels per day of output to close temporarily.
Nearly 500,000 bpd of offshore crude oil production and 28%, or 759 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd), of natural gas output were shut in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, according to the U.S. Interior Department.
U.S. crude oil futures rose nearly 3% and gasoline futures climbed 2.2% on Tuesday on the hurricane-related oil production and refinery shut-ins despite demand losses from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The nation’s sole offshore terminal, the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP), stopped loading tankers on Sunday, while ports from the lower Mississippi River east to Pensacola, Florida, were closed. That will cut off roughly 307,000 bpd of crude and 411,000 bpd of refined products, according to Kpler data.
As of 1 p.m. CDT (1800 GMT) on Tuesday, Sally was about 105 miles (165 km) south of Mobile, Alabama, and crawling toward the northwest at 2 mph (3 kph).
Refiners in the region have wound down operations. Phillips 66 shut its Alliance oil refinery, which processes 255,600 bpd at a site along the Mississippi River on the coast of Louisiana.
Shell cut production to minimum rates on Monday at its 227,400-bpd Norco, Louisiana, refinery.
However, Murphy Oil Corp said it was beginning to restore production at its eastern-most Gulf of Mexico oil platforms, and Equinor said it expected to return workers to its Titan platform on Thursday.
(Reporting by Erwin Seba, Gary McWilliams in Houston and Devika Krishna Kumar in New York; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Jason Neely)
Dive into a sea of information with our meticulously curated weekly “Dispatch” email. It’s more than just a newsletter; it’s your personal maritime briefing.
Dive into a sea of information with our meticulously curated weekly “Dispatch” email. It’s more than just a newsletter; it’s your personal maritime briefing.
CAIRO, March 2 (Reuters) – The Houthi Transport Ministry in Yemen said on Saturday there had been a “glitch” in undersea communication cables in the Red Sea as a result of actions...
by Captain John Konrad (gCaptain) In the current American labor landscape, the stark contrast between the assertive strides of transportation unions and the maritime sector’s unique labor challenges is striking....
By Mikhail Flores MANILA, Dec 2 (Reuters) – Evacuations were under way in the Philippines after a quake of at least magnitude 7.5 struck the southern region of Mindanao on Saturday night,...
December 2, 2023
Total Views: 2150
Why Join gCaptain Club?
Be Informed: Stay updated with the latest maritime news and trends.
Connect: Network with a community of maritime professionals and enthusiasts.
Gain Insights: Receive exclusive content and personal perspectives from our CEO.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.