Join our crew and become one of the 110,880 members that receive our newsletter.

houston ship channel tug

Tanker Bottleneck in Houston Port Eases with Four Arrivals

Reuters
Total Views: 50
March 28, 2019

FILE PHOTO: A tug boat navigates the Houston ship channel with a flare from an oil refinery and storage facility in the background south of downtown Houston. REUTERS/Richard Carson/File Photo

reuters logo By Collin Eaton HOUSTON, March 28 (Reuters) – Four tankers on Thursday were preparing to offload or pick up cargoes in the busiest U.S. oil port, the first signs of an easing of the bottleneck that cut 1 million barrels per day of shipments, according to vessel tracking data.

The Houston Ship Channel reopened this week with operating restrictions following a fire at Mitsui & Co Inc’s Intercontinental Terminals Co (ITC) in Deer Park, Texas. That blaze sent fuel and chemicals into the waterway, which connects Houston to the Gulf of Mexico and is home to nine refineries.

Oil and fuel moving in and out of the port fell to 1.4 million barrels per day this week, from a 10-day moving average of 2.4 million bpd, according to figures from data provider Kpler. That decline is similar to a drop in February when fog closed the channel for three days, Kpler said.

The U.S. Coast Guard is adding inspectors to check ships for contamination to speed up transit. On Wednesday, 15 vessels moved through the upper channel, four more than on Tuesday, said U.S. Coast Guard Captain Kevin Oditt at a morning briefing.

On Thursday, 55 inbound and 19 outbound vessels were waiting to move through areas tainted by the fuels. In all, 141 ships were at anchor, but not all of those were waiting to move past ITC, Oditt said.

After a shutdown last week, traffic on the upper channel has been limited to daylight hours and other restrictions. Ships that travel through the area must be inspected for oil and cleaned if any is found. It remains unclear when the channel could return to normal, Oditt said.

The restrictions this week caused LyondellBasell Industries and Royal Dutch Shell to slow production at two refineries.

FSL Piraeus, carrying about 750,000 barrels of crude oil, arrived Wednesday at Shell’s Deer Park joint-venture refinery and was preparing to discharge its cargo. Elke Bene, a refined products tanker, loaded at Shell this week but has not departed, the data showed.

Three tankers, Eagle Texas, Elandra Angel and STI Seneca, were parked at Enterprise Products Partners’ terminal, after moving through the ship channel on Wednesday, data from Refinitiv Eikon and Kpler showed.

Two other tankers, Astro Saturn and Searuby, loaded with crude oil and refined products, respectively, have sat at Enterprise’s terminal since March 21, the data showed. The tankers each can hold up to 750,000 barrels of fuels. Enterprise declined to comment.

Tankers Eagle San Juan, NS Corona and Dali last week discharged cargoes of crude oil at SemGroup Corp’s Houston Fuel Oil Terminal and have not left, data showed. SemGroup did not respond to a request for comment.

Luctor, a refined products tanker, has waited for almost a week moored with a full cargo at a Kinder Morgan Inc’s Houston terminal. Kinder Morgan declined to comment. (Reporting by Collin Eaton in Houston and Erwin Seba in Pasadena, Texas; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and Richard Chang)

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019.

Unlock Exclusive Insights Today!

Join the gCaptain Club for curated content, insider opinions, and vibrant community discussions.

Sign Up
Back to Main
polygon icon polygon icon

Why Join the gCaptain Club?

Access exclusive insights, engage in vibrant discussions, and gain perspectives from our CEO.

Sign Up
close

JOIN OUR CREW

Maritime and offshore news trusted by our 110,880 members delivered daily straight to your inbox.