-- Extensive destruction of the Bahamas Oil Refining Co.'s (BORCO)
oil terminaling complex by Hurricane Wilma, including the loss of a
pivotal dock used to accommodate ocean-going vessels, will keep
almost all operations "down for a couple of months," a US refining
source told Platts on Oct 31. Along with the deepwater dock, a
platform was completely destroyed in BORCO's deepwater berth area,
with significant damage sustained to three additional platforms,
market sources said. Repairs were still pending "as they are still
assessing the damage," according to one source. "BORCO was
obliterated from Wilma," he said. "You won't be able to discharge
any oil there, much less blend there." The oil storage, fuel
blending and marine complex in Freeport, Grand Bahama, is owned by
Venezuela's state PDVSA. A PDVSA/BORCO spokesman did not return
requests for comment on Oct 31.
-- The Louisiana Dept of Natural Resources on Oct 31 said
operators of onshore and shallow-water wells in a 38-parish region
hit by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita had restored 88,769 b/d of oil
production, or about 43.7% of the pre-storm output of 203,189 b/d.
The agency put restored natural gas production at 929,300 Mcf/d,
41.6% of the region's pre-hurricane output of 2.235 Bcf/d.
-- The US Minerals Management Service said on Oct 31 oil shut-ins
in the Gulf were 1,015,859 b/d, or 67.72% of normal production of
1.5-mil b/d. On Oct 28, shut-ins were 1.107-mil b/d, or 67.84% of
normal. Gas shut-ins slipped to 5.427 Bcf/d, or 54.27% of normal
output of 10 Bcf/d. On Oct 28, shut-ins were 5.504 Bcf/d, or 55.04%
of normal.
-- The following refineries are down in the wake of Rita:
ConocoPhillips: Lake Charles, Louisiana, (239,000 b/d), said Oct 26
expects full operations restored week of Oct 31; BP: Texas City,
Texas, (446,500 b/d), restart within a month, but may not produce
until end of October due to regulatory scrutiny, sources told
Platts; Calcasieu: Lake Charles, (30,000 b/d), power restored.
-- The following refineries are still closed in the wake of
Katrina; ConocoPhillips: Alliance plant in Belle Chasse, Louisiana,
(247,000 b/d), partial restart in December, full rates in early
2006; ExxonMobil/PDVSA: Chalmette, Louisiana, (187,000 b/d), Murphy
Oil: Meraux, Louisiana, (125,000 b/d), said repairs would keep
refinery idled through first quarter of 2006.
-- The Department of Energy initially approved 13.2-mil bbl in
crude loans from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in the aftermath of
Katrina, but later reduced the total volume to 10.8-mil bbl at the
request of the contractors. Specifically, BP, which had originally
requested a 2-mil bbl loan, declined delivery of 1.8-mil bbl, while
Total trading arm Atlantic Trading & Marketing, which had initially
agreed to a total of 1.2-mil bbl, declined 600,000 bbl, a DOE
spokesman said. As of Oct 26, almost 9.5-mil bbl of the 10.8-mil of
the loaned oil had been delivered. DOE also sold 11-mil bbl of SPR
crude as part of the International Energy Agency's 60-mil bbl stock
release. As of Oct 26, almost half of that crude had been delivered
to market. Initially, all volumes were slated to be delivered in
October, but the arrival of Rita along the Texas-Louisiana Gulf
Coast Sep 24 caused damage to refineries, terminals and distribution
systems, slowing down the process. DOE now expects deliveries to
continue through November.
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