Shell to Shut Its Convent, La. Refinery Amid Pandemic
Royal Dutch Shell said on Thursday it will shut down its refinery in Convent, Louisiana, the largest U.S. facility to close since the coronavirus pandemic first hit and devastated economic demand worldwide.The shutdown, to occur this month, comes after Shell failed to find a buyer.The refinery is the ninth in North America either to announce a shutdown or to be idled since the pandemic, which has delivered a heavy blow to fuel demand globally. The United States is the world's largest fuel consumer.Shell said it failed to find a buyer for the 211…
Oil Firm Evacuate Workers as Storm Approaches Texas
Oil companies evacuate workers as storm takes aim at Texas. Royal Dutch Shell, Anadarko Petroleum and Exxon Mobil announced they were curbing some oil and gas output on Wednesday at facilities in the Gulf of Mexico ahead of a storm expected to hit the Texas coast later this week. The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) issued a hurricane watch Wednesday for much of the Texas coast, calling for slow-moving Tropical Depression Harvey to intensify as it nears landfall. Shell said it was evacuating all personnel from the roughly 100…
Oil Traders Brace for US Gulf Coast Storm
Oil traders from Texas to Louisiana braced on Tuesday for supply disruptions as Tropical Storm Cindy, formed in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, threatened to hit refining and production centers with wind and rain later this week. Cindy was located about 265 miles (430 km) south of Morgan City, Louisiana with maximum sustained winds of 45 miles (75 km) per hour. It is expected to approach the coast of southwest Louisiana late Wednesday or Wednesday night, and move inland over western Louisiana and eastern Texas on Thursday, the NHC said.
Heavy Lift: Cryogenic Heat Exchanger Installed
The second of three planned Main Cryogenic Heat Exchanger (MCHE) installations at a large liquefaction project in southwest Louisiana marked a milestone for the U.S. Gulf Coast project. Heavy lift and transportation services provider Mammoet used 40 axle-lines of Self-Propelled Modular Transporters (SPMTs) to transport the equipment to the installation site. The lift of the MCHE, which is 150 feet long, 16 feet in diameter and weighs a total of 576,000 lbs. (262 metric tons), was a tandem…
Hurricane Patricia Brings Rain, Flooding to Louisiana
Torrential rainstorms battered Louisiana on Sunday, leaving thousands without power, after pounding southeastern Texas as the remnants of Hurricane Patricia converged with a second storm. The heaviest band of rain moved over the Gulf of Mexico, triggering coastal flood warnings and flash flood watches in southwest Louisiana and soaking New Orleans, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). About 22,000 people were left without power in the greater New Orleans area. Some streets were flooded, while a high tide surge brought some coastal flooding as well.
2015 LAGCOE Looey to Honor Leon Charles Moncla Jr.
This year the Louisiana Gulf Coast Oil Exposition (LAGCOE), one of the world's pioneer oil and gas expositions, honors Leon Charles Moncla Jr. as LAGCOE Looey 2015 in recognition of his 45-plus years of service in the oil and gas industry. LAGCOE Looey recipients have shaped the oil and gas industry through years of devoted hard work while continuously giving back to their community. This year’s commendable recipient is no different. “LAGCOE Looey 2015 epitomizes the qualities of a true Southwest Louisiana oil man: entrepreneurial risk-taking…
Live Oak Plans LNG Plant on Calcasieu Channel
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and Martin Houston, Chairman of Live Oak LNG, has announced a new natural gas liquefaction and export project, up to a $2 billion investment, to be developed in the Calcasieu waterway. The $2 billion plant will be located on the Calcasieu Ship Channel and will create 100 direct jobs and 385 indirect jobs, the governor said. The permanent jobs will pay an average salary of about $75,000. About 1,000 construction workers will be hired. The mid-sized project is being designed for a plant capacity of up to five million tonnes per annum production and will include two 130…
LNG America Taps Paitl for VP Marine Ops
LNG America welcomes Captain George “Joe” Paitl to position of VP Marine Operations and HSSE Compliance. Capt. Paitl is a retired US Coast Guard senior officer who most recently held the position of Commanding Officer and Captain of the Port, Marine Safety Unit Port Arthur, where he oversaw safety, security, law enforcement, and environmental regulatory compliance across a 39,000 square mile area spanning Southeast Texas and Southwest Louisiana; the Port Arthur unit includes the nation's busiest commercial military cargo port…
