Ports along Texas coast close, restrict traffic as Tropical Storm Beryl approaches (updated)

Gibson Energy

07/07/2024 16:25

(Adds Houston port status, Cheniere LNG facility, storm update)
    By Arathy Somasekhar, Curtis Williams
       HOUSTON, July 7 (Reuters) - Ports along the Texas coast
were closing or restricting vessel traffic on Sunday to prepare
for Tropical Storm Beryl, which was expected to strengthen back
to a hurricane before hitting the area early on Monday.  
The storm, which at one point intensified to a Category 5
hurricane, left a deadly trail of destruction across the
Caribbean. It could grow into a Category 2 hurricane when it
makes landfall, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
    The port of Corpus Christi said it was closed after
condition "Zulu" was set by the Coast Guard captain on Sunday.
All vessel movement and cargo operations are restricted as gale
force winds were expected within 12 hours. 
Corpus Christi, about 200 miles (322 km) from Houston, is the
top crude oil export hub in the United States. Port closures
could bring a temporary halt to crude exports, oil shipments to
refineries, and motor fuels from those plants.
The port of Houston's eight public facilities were set to close
operations on Monday, a spokesperson said. The 52-mile Houston
ship channel, which on Sunday was operating under transit
restrictions, also allows access to some 200 private terminals. 
    Meanwhile the ports of Freeport and Texas City were under
condition "Yankee". With gale force winds predicted within 24
hours, all inbound vessel traffic was suspended at these ports.
    U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) producer Cheniere Energy
 LNG.N  said on Sunday its Corpus Christi facility was operating
without interruptions, but all nonessential personnel was
released from work.
  
     "Our Gulf Coast assets, including Corpus Christi, have
robust and proven severe-weather preparedness plans and
procedures in place," it said in a release.
  
    Freeport LNG said it had implemented its weather emergency
response plan, thought it did not give details. It said it
intends to maintain normal operations at its liquefaction
facility.    
Chemical maker Chemours Co  CC.N  , which has a production
facility near Corpus Christi, said on Sunday it had integrated
hurricane preparedness plans in place to ensure its sites
remained safe. 
    "We have escalated our hurricane preparedness plans to
include planning for safe and adequate staffing during and after
the storm and securing our equipment and assets, should the
storm make landfall near our site," the company said in an
e-mailed statement.    
    Enbridge Inc  ENB.TO , which operates large crude oil export
facilities near Corpus Christi, said all assets were operating,
adding that they had activated emergency plans for its U.S. Gulf
assets. 
Gibson Energy  GEI.TO , which also operates an export facility
in the area, did not immediately reply to a request for comment
on Sunday. They had said they were operational on Saturday. 
Citgo Petroleum Corp was cutting production at its 165,000
barrel-per-day Corpus Christi, Texas, refinery on Saturday,
sources said. The refiner plans to keep the plant in operation
at minimum during passage of Beryl to the east of Corpus
Christi.
Some oil producers, including Shell  SHEL.L  and Chevron
 CVX.N , had also evacuated personnel from their Gulf of Mexico
offshore production platforms ahead of the storm.

(Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar, Erwin Seba, Marianna Parraga in
Houston; additional reporting by Curtis Willaims in Houston,
Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
((arathy.s@thomsonreuters.com; +1 832 610 7346; Twitter:
@ArathySom;))