Flooding Disrupts U.S. Gulf Coast Energy Operations
Energy infrastructure on the U.S. Gulf Coast was hit hard by Tropical Storm Imelda on Thursday, as flooding forced a major refinery, a key oil pipeline, terminals and a ship channel in Texas to shut, according to sources familiar with operations.Torrential rain has inundated the Gulf Coast from Houston to western Louisiana for a second straight day. The National Hurricane Center forecast the storm could drop up to 40 inches (102 cm) of rain along the southeastern coast of Texas through Thursday night.Ship pilots stopped boarding vessels on the Beaumont…
Motiva Port Arthur Refinery Restarting Large Crude Unit
Motiva Enterprises began restarting on Tuesday afternoon the large crude distillation unit (CDU) at its 603,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas, for the second time this week, said sources familiar with plant operations. The 325,000 bpd VPS-5 CDU was shut in early February as part of a planned multi unit overhaul. The unit began restarting on Sunday and resumed minimum production by Tuesday morning, before being taken out of production due to a malfunction by midday Tuesday, the sources said. Reporting by Erwin Seba
Harvey Shores Up U.S. Refiner Margins
Surging prices for gasoline and diesel in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey spiked margins to a more than two-year high, helping two big U.S. refiners record quarterly profits on Thursday that blew past Wall Street estimates. Marathon Petroleum Corp said its refining system was relatively spared during the hurricane season, with some short, preventive shutdowns. "We set multiple refinery production records during the quarter, including record crude throughput in the month of August," Marathon Petroleum President Donald Templin said on a conference call.
Colonial Pipeline Allows Port Arthur Refiners to Ship Fuel after Harvey
Colonial Pipeline, the largest fuel system in the United States, said on Monday that Port Arthur, Texas refiners can use their own pumps as a temporary solution to get gasoline and other products into its main lines. Flow rates on Colonial's lines, which supply more than 3 million barrels a day of fuel to the populous U.S. east coast, have been sharply reduced after Hurricane Harvey caused massive floods and damaged supply points, including at Port Arthur. The Port Arthur facility connects directly to Total and Valero's refineries in Jefferson County, Texas.
U.S. Gulf Refiners Recovering Slowly, Carefully
U.S. refineries are restarting after Hurricane Harvey forced them to shut down two weeks ago, raising the risk of fires and explosions that could prolong fuel supply disruption as plants simultaneously reheat units and reactivate catalysts. Restarts are one of the most dangerous times for refinery workers, so operators keep shutdowns to a minimum. Plants typically shut only a few units for overhaul in spring and fall, with most refinery units remaining in operation for 4-6 years between full maintenance shutdowns.
Fuel Shortages from Harvey to Hamper Labor Day Travel
Travelers and fuel suppliers across the United States braced for higher prices and shortages ahead of the Labor Day holiday weekend as the country's biggest fuel pipelines and refineries curb operations after Hurricane Harvey. Just six days after Harvey slammed into the heart of the U.S. energy industry in Texas, the effects are being felt not just in Houston, but also in Chicago and New York, and prices at the pump nationwide have hit a high for the year. Supply shortages have developed even though there are nearly a quarter of a billion barrels of gasoline stockpiled in the United States.
Largest US Refinery May Be Shut for up to Two Weeks
Motiva Enterprises' Port Arthur, Texas refinery, the nation's largest, may be shut as long as two weeks for assessment of the plant and repair of any damage, sources familiar with plant operations said on Thursday. The 603,000 barrel per day (bpd) Port Arthur Refinery was shut on Wednesday due to flooding from Tropical Storm Harvey. Reporting by Erwin Seba
Flooding Knocks Out U.S. Refineries
Harvey brings heavy rainfall, flooding to U.S. Gulf coast. Heavy rains from tropical storm Harvey caused large-scale U.S. refinery outages, pushing up gasoline prices, while crude prices rose in early Asian trade on Tuesday on the back of supply disruptions in Colombia and Libya. Refinery shutdowns from the storm helped push U.S. gasoline prices to 2015 highs of $1.7799 per gallon on Monday, although they receded slightly to $1.7325 per gallon by 0103 GMT on Tuesday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 23 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $46.80 a barrel, after falling more than 2 percent in the previous session.
Harvey Throws a Wrench into US Energy Engine
A hurricane in the heart of the U.S. energy industry is expected to upend years of U.S. excess oil capacity and low prices, with the impact expected to reverberate globally and affect energy markets for weeks. Harvey hit the Texas shore as a fierce Category 4 hurricane, causing massive flooding that knocked out 11.2 percent of U.S. refining capacity, a quarter of oil production from the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, and closed ports all along the Texas coast. Gasoline futures jumped as much as 7 percent to their highest level in more than two years in early Monday trading in Asia as traders took stock of the storm's impact.
Total Explores Partnership for Port Arthur Refinery Logistics Assets
French oil and gas company Total said on Thursday that it was exploring a partnership deal for the logistics part of its 225,000 barrels-per-day Port Arthur refinery in the United States and had been in talks in the last year with potential investors. Reuters reported on Wednesday that Total had decided not to sell a 50 percent stake in the refinery almost a year after it retained investment bank Lazard to advise on the deal. "In the last year we have been in discussions with potential investors to create a JV partnership for the Port Arthur Refinery," a spokesman for the company told Reuters.
Shell, Aramco U.S. Refining Breakup Lets Both Pursue Ambitious Goals
The breakup of Royal Dutch Shell's and Saudi Aramco's giant U.S. refining joint venture draws a line under an often rocky relationship and allows Aramco to accelerate an ambitious public offering and Shell to push ahead with a large asset sale. The two energy giants' plan to dissolve Motiva Enterprises after a near 20-year partnership leaves both with fully-owned refineries and gas stations in the United States. Refineries have recently enjoyed a boom time as a near 70 percent plunge in oil prices since mid-2014 spurred demand for gasoline from around the world…
U.S. Refinery Strike Widens, includes Largest Plant
The U.S. refinery strike widened as workers at the nation's largest refinery walked off their jobs at 12 a.m. CST (0600 GMT) on Saturday, according to the United Steelworkers union (USW). Shortly after talks between union and oil company representatives ended on Friday night, the union notified Motiva Enterprises of a strike by its members at the company's 600,250 barrel per day (bpd) refinery in Port Arthur, Texas. The USW also gave notices on Friday of strikes to begin in 24 hours at Motiva's 235,000 bpd Convent…
US Demand Gives European Refiners Rare Boost
Big slate of refinery maintenance in U.S., Canada; export rush bucks long-term trend. A late-year rush for gasoline in the United States is creating unexpected demand for imported cargoes and giving struggling European refineries a welcome autumn boost. An extensive slate of refinery maintenance on the U.S. Gulf Coast and in Canada has sapped gasoline availability, leading to a 70-percent increase in cargoes sailing west from Europe this month over levels in August - usually the time of peak demand. "What we're seeing now is not normal," one trader said. "The strength in the United States is dramatic. Traders said the U.S.
Shell's Refining Business Looks for Strength in Chemicals
Royal Dutch Shell is betting on chemicals, lubricants and retail fuel sales to help it boost the performance of its downstream division where oil refining will remain a drag on earnings in many regions for years to come. Downstream, which combines oil refining, trading distribution and chemicals, generated income of $2.9 billion for Shell in the first half of 2014, compared to $10.4 billion in oil production or upstream. John Abbott, the head of Shell's downstream business, said the company is targeting…
Trading Houses Limit Gasoline Trades as Profits Slump
Traders Mercuria, Trafigura and SOCAR cut gasoline desks; new refining capacity slashes traditional profitability. U.S. refining boom weighs on global light products. Trading houses are shrinking their gasoline desks in response to a slump in activity, particularly in Europe, where overseas competition and rising global supplies have limited opportunities to make money. New and highly competitive refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast, in Asia and the Middle East have increased global supplies of the motor fuel.
Exxon eyes expanding Texas refinery
Exxon Mobil Corp is considering a multi-billion-dollar plan to expand its Beaumont, Texas, refinery into the country's largest, the first major refining investment of the U.S. shale oil boom, people with knowledge of the deliberations said. The expansion of the 344,600 barrel-per-day (bpd) Beaumont refinery, if carried out, would be completed by 2020 and potentially double its size with the addition of a third crude distillation unit (CDU), the sources said. More modest near-term projects to renew and expand so-called coking units to help refine more heavy crude already are under way, they said.
