Power outages from Nicholas disrupt energy production, vessel activity (updated)

Rishabh Digha Steel and Allied Products

14/09/2021 17:02

(Adds Freeport LNG plant power outage, oil prices)
    By Marianna Parraga and Liz Hampton
    Sept 14 (Reuters) - Hurricane Nicholas on Tuesday took
another swipe at U.S. Gulf Coast energy facilities, cutting
offshore oil and gas output gradually recovering from the last
storm and disrupting power to onshore pipeline, gas and chemical
plants.  
    Royal Dutch Shell  RDSa.L  halted production its Perdido
offshore oil platform due to heavy winds, and U.S. liquefied
natural gas producer Freeport LNG said processing at its Texas
coast facility was halted, likely due to a power outage.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2QG1SO
    Power losses briefly cut Colonial Pipeline's main gasoline
and diesel lines out of Houston, with its gasoline line resuming
some shipments midday. Outages also halted production at
Lyondell Basell's plastics plant in Matagorda County, Texas. 
    Shipping at several Texas and Louisiana ports also ground to
a halt on heavy seas and power outages. 
    Gulf Coast oil refiners were largely unscathed. Citgo
Petroleum and Phillips Petroleum said their operations in Texas
and Louisiana were continuing. Shell also said its Deer Park,
Texas, plant ran through the storm. 
    Nicholas made landfall as Category 1 hurricane on Monday,
the second storm in two weeks to hit major oil and refining hubs
at the U.S. Gulf Coast. The region had just been starting to
recover from Hurricane Ida.
    Over 40% of the Gulf's oil output remained shut on Monday
after Ida, a Category 4 storm, damaged offshore infrastructure
and other critical energy facilities in Louisiana.     
    U.S. gasoline futures were up slightly on Tuesday, at
$2.1691 a gallon, while benchmark U.S. oil futures were trading
flat $70.33 a barrel  CLc1 . 
    Shell said it was ready to restart production at its
offshore Perdido platform once power is restored to a receiving
facility. The company had no plans to return staff to the
offshore facility on Tuesday. 
    Nicholas, downgraded to a tropical storm, was moving slowly
toward the northeast and expected to turn eastward on Wednesday
over Louisiana, where many energy facilities are still
struggling to recover from Ida. 
    
    MORE RESTRICTIONS
    Over 425,000 customers in Texas were without power due to
the storm, including 150,000 in Houston, according to mayor
Sylvester Turner. Vessel traffic was idled on Tuesday morning at
the Houston Ship Channel as pilots continued to suspend activity
while Nicholas moved through the area, a pilot official said. 
    The ports of Houston, Freeport, Galveston and Texas City
were open with restrictions, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. 
The Port of Houston and Freeport Harbor Channel both reported
power outages. 
    Vessel traffic on the Calcasieu Ship Channel was also 
suspended on Tuesday, the Lake Charles, Louisiana, Pilots
Association said. The pilots bring vessels delivering or loading
at oil and chemical plants in the Port of Lake Charles.
    Texas and Louisiana ports set restrictions while Nicholas
passes through, and some shippers expect these to add to delays
from infrastructure woes caused by Hurricane Ida for loading
vessels with U.S. crudes for exports and discharging oil imports
for refining.

 (Reporting by Liz Hampton in Denver and Marianna Parraga in
Houston; Editing by David Gregorio)
 ((Liz.Hampton@thomsonreuters.com; +1 832 571 8115; Reuters
Messaging: Reuters Messaging: liz.hampton.reuters@reuters.net))