Storm Harvey Keeps One-Fifth of Offshore US Gulf Production Shut
Almost a fifth of US Gulf offshore gas production remained shut in, along with half the gas output from the onshore Eagle Ford shale in Texas, according to the US Department of Energy’s latest Tropical Storm Harvey update, as at lunchtime 8:30 AM Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) August 30.
Meanwhile a French company warned August 31 that its Texas chemicals plant had experienced two explosions, due to loss of power.
Harvey continued to produce heavy rain across eastern Texas and western Louisiana, leading to significant flooding, and would continue to produce weather impacts through September 1, the bulletin noted.
It said that as of 12.30pm EDT August 29, 615.09mn ft3/d (19.1%) of the natural gas production in the federally administered areas of the US Gulf of Mexico were shut-in and 319,523 b/d (18.26%) of the area’s oil production, according to Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) estimates, noting further that 102 manned platforms and 31 rigs in the US Gulf were evacuated as at August 29.
The bulletin also noted that, on August 26, the Texas Railroad Commission estimated that some 3bn ft3/d of natural gas production had been shut in in the Eagle Ford region, from a pre-storm estimate of about 6bn ft3/d, along with some 300,000 to 500,000 b/d of crude production there from a pre-storm production estimate of 870,000 b/d. It expected most idled production to come back online in the next few days.
Some 300,000 customers were also without electricity as at 7.30am EDT August 30, the DOE added. This broke down as 287,125 customers in Texas (2.4% of total customers) and 11,781 more in Louisiana (fewer than 1% of total customers). At the same time, six oil refineries in the Corpus Christi area, seven in the Houston/Galveston area, and two in Beaumont/Port Arthur area were shut down. Five refineries in the US Gulf Coast region were operating at reduced rates.
Despite a decline in natgas demand, not least because of gas-fired power plants had to shed load, analysts warned of the potential for price increases.
French chemicals group Arkema said early August 31 (2am Central DT) a loss of power at its plant at Crosby, Texas, meant that critical refrigeration of products – including organic peroxides -- on site had been lost, and that it “had communicated with the public the potential for product to explode and cause an intense fire” and urged the public to stay away and heed advice from the authorities.
"At approximately 2 a.m. CDT, we were notified by the Harris County Emergency Operations Center of two explosions and black smoke coming from the Arkema Inc. plant in Crosby, Texas. Local officials had previously established an evacuation zone in an area 1.5 miles from our plant," Arkema said.
Cheniere said August 28 that the storm has passed its Corpus Christi construction site and that it can report the site saw no major impacts. It was among several energy companies, including ExxonMobil and Chevron, each to donate $1mn to Storm Harvey relief and clear-up efforts by the American Red Cross and similar charities. Cheniere said production at its Sabine Pass LNG export plant continued through the storm.
Mark Smedley