Harvey could bring up to twice that, with as much as 12 feet of storm surge potentially swamping refinery infrastructure, including huge tanks of crude oil, with saltwater. An analysis earlier this year by the South Texas Economic Development Center predicted that 92 square miles of the Corpus Christi metro area would flood with a six-foot rise in water, including all six of the city’s refineries. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Corpus Christi, a critical port for the Texas oil and gas industry, is also one of the most vulnerable places in America when it comes to coastal flooding.
Homeowner policies with insurance companies don't typically cover flood damage, yet a relatively small percentage of homeowners have flood insurance through the federal program. The flood program is run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which owes the Treasury about $23 billion in funds borrowed to cover the cost of past disasters, according to a recent report by the U.S. If the firm is correct, that would put homeowners and the government-backed National Flood Insurance Program at risk. said losses from storm surges and inland flooding could be a bigger source of losses. INSURANCE: A firm that does forecasts for insurance companies said wind-damage claims could top $6 billion, although it said losses in the low billions are more likely. They said the hardest-hit areas will include Corpus Christi, which is on the coast, and San Antonio, which is about 140 miles inland. UTILITIES: Researchers at Texas A&M University estimated that the storm would knock out power for at least 1.25 million people in Texas. TRAVEL: After more than 1,200 flight cancellations Friday and Saturday, airlines already had canceled an additional 823 flights scheduled for Sunday, according to FlightAware's calculations on Saturday evening.Īirlines were offering customers the chance to reschedule trips that would take them to Houston, San Antonio or Austin from Friday through the weekend. Rates for carrying freight between the Gulf of Mexico and the U.S. Port operations in Corpus Christi and Galveston closed, and the port of Houston said container terminals and general cargo facilities closed around midday Friday. SHIPPING: Shipping terminals along the Texas coast shut down as the storm approached. A company spokeswoman cited safety and potential disruptions in getting oil and gas from the wells to market during the storm. On shore, ConcoPhillips stopped all operations in the Eagle Ford shale formation, which lies across a swath of South Texas inland from the Gulf. Shell halted operations on a big floating oil-production platform, and Anadarko evacuated workers and shut down four facilities in the western Gulf while continuing to operate those east of the storm's predicted path. But, she noted, oil companies announced fewer platform shutdowns on Friday than they had on Thursday, which is an encouraging sign.Įxxon Mobil closed two of its platforms and was evacuating all personnel in the expected path of the storm, said spokeswoman Suann Guthrie.
#HURRICANE HARVEY FRACKED OIL OFFLINE#
"We could see more production be taken offline in the Gulf of Mexico" if the path of the storm wanders farther east, said Jenna Delaney, an oil analyst for PIRA Energy. The agency estimated that platforms accounting for about 22 percent of oil production and 23 percent of natural gas output in the Gulf had been shut down. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said workers had been removed from 86 of the 737 manned platforms used to pump oil and gas from beneath the Gulf. OIL AND GAS: Companies have been evacuating workers from oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, and that is crimping the flow of oil and gas.Īs of Friday, the U.S. In addition to the refinery closures, Formosa Plastics shut its petrochemical plant in Point Comfort, Texas, and Ox圜hem suspended operations at its petrochemical plant in Ingleside, Texas, according to Platts, an S&P Global division that tracks the commodities and energy industry. The prospect of supply interruptions sent gasoline futures to $1.74 a gallon, their highest level since April, before they retreated to around $1.67 by Friday afternoon. said it was closing two facilities in Corpus Christi. Tom Kloza, an analyst for the Oil Price Information Service, predicts that prices could rise by up to 25 cents a gallon, but that an increase of 5 cents to 15 cents is more likely, assuming that the hurricane doesn't cause lasting damage to refineries.įlint Hills Resources announced that it would shutter a refinery before Harvey hit and Valero Energy Corp. For now, Lipow is predicting gasoline prices will rise 10 cents per gallon east of the Rockies.
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