Residents flee, oil firms shut offshore production as Storm Francine intensifies (updated)

Tellurian

10/09/2024 15:22

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      Francine forecast to wallop Louisiana with fast winds 
    

        * 
      Energy companies shut-in output at several production
platforms
    

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      Storm poised to become major test for US LNG export plants
    

  
 (Adds hurricane status in paragraphs 1-2, port conditions in
paragraph 4-6, Enbridge evacuation in paragraph 8 and gas flow
to Cameron LNG in paragraph 13)
    By Gary McWilliams and Marianna Parraga
       HOUSTON, Sept 10 (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Francine was
intensifying and on track to become a hurricane on Tuesday, the
U.S. National Hurricane Center said, prompting Louisiana
residents to flee inland and oil and gas producers to shut-in
Gulf of Mexico production.
    Francine could wallop the Louisiana coast on Wednesday with
life-threatening winds, drenching rains and an up to 10-foot
storm surge. Authorities called for a mandatory evacuation of
residents in three coastal communities, schools were shut and
officials distributed sandbags.
    The storm is anticipated to be just offshore of the coasts
of northeastern Mexico and southern Texas through Tuesday before
making landfall near Cameron in Louisiana, in a major storm test
for liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plants recently built in
the region. 
    Energy companies began evacuating offshore workers and
shut-in output at several production platforms ahead of the
storm. The port of Brownsville near the border with Mexico and
other smaller terminals in Texas remained closed on Tuesday,
while others including Houston, Galveston, Corpus Christi, Texas
City and Freeport were working with restrictions.
    Between Texas and Louisiana, the ports of Beaumont, Port
Arthur, Lake Charles, Cameron and Sabine imposed restrictions to
vessel traffic, the Coast Guard said, while New Orleans, Baton
Rouge and Houma began preparations to face the storm as it was
expected to move from Texas to Louisiana.
    The Coast Guard allowed the terminals to remain open on
Tuesday morning, but restricted vessel navigation at some of
them.
    Ports in Mississippi and Alabama including Pascagoula also
began preparations, but remained open on Tuesday.    
    Oil prices rose on Tuesday and natural gas prices fell, both
on worries about the production shut-ins and potential impact on
gas processing at LNG plants. The region is home to about 15% of
U.S. oil production and 2% of natural gas output. 
    Energy pipeline operator Enbridge  ENB.TO  pulled employees
from several U.S. Gulf of Mexico platforms. Its Manta Ray Gas
Gathering system declared force majeure at its Green Canyon 158
Brutus receipt point and stopped receiving natural gas, the
company told customers.
    Exxon Mobil  XOM.N , Shell  SHEL.L  and Chevron  CVX.N 
removed offshore staff and halted some oil and gas operations.
Exxon cut production at its Hoover oil production facility about
150 miles east of Corpus Christi, Texas. 
    Chevron withdrew workers from four offshore facilities and
halted oil and gas output at two. Shell cut production at one
platform, moved workers off three facilities and paused drilling
at two.
    BP  BP.L  ruled out any major impacts on its offshore
facilities, while Woodside Energy  WDS.AX  and Occidental
Petroleum  OXY.N  were prepared to take action as needed. 
    The storm is poised to become a major test for new LNG
export plants in Louisiana. Sempra's  SRE.N  Cameron LNG,
Venture Global LNG's Calcasieu Pass LNG and Tellurian's  TELL.A 
Driftwood LNG development are in the crosshairs of Francine.
    Natural gas flowing to the Cameron LNG export plant dropped
on Tuesday to 1.3 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) from about
2.2 bcfd on Monday, LSEG data showed. Officials at the company
were not immediately available for comment.
        Freeport LNG, which operates the nation's second-largest
export plant for the super-chilled gas, said it had begun storm
preparations at its Texas plant without providing details.  
    

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The pathway of storm Francine     https://reut.rs/4d1oam6
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 (Reporting by Marianna Parraga, Curtis Williams and Georgina
McCartney; writing by Gary McWilliams; additional reporting by
Scott DiSavino. Editing by Sonali Paul and Ros Russell)
 ((Gary.McWilliams@thomsonreuters.com; +1 469-691-7668;))