-- Chevron has resumed operations at its Empire crude terminal in
southern Louisiana after completing the majority of repairs needed
at the facility, which was heavily damaged in late August by
Hurricane Katrina. "The terminal is now at close to 100%
operations," a Chevron spokesman said Nov 3, noting there are still
some repairs to be completed. Empire is the primary delivery point
for Heavy Louisiana Sweet crude produced in the Gulf of Mexico, and
handled between 400,000-500,000 b/d of the grade before Katrina.
-- Terminal tanks are receiving crude produced in the Gulf and
moved to shore via incoming pipelines, which include Cypress
Pipeline, Breton Sound Pipeline, Shell's MP 69 and Delta systems and
the Grand Bay pipeline.
-- Chevron said crude is being delivered from Empire to outbound
pipelines, including a line serving the 190,000 b/d Chalmette,
Louisiana, refinery co-owned by ExxonMobil and Venezuela's PDVSA,
and ExxonMobil's pipeline to the terminal at St James, Louisiana.
Deliveries to the barge dock at the Empire terminal are expected
from Nov 6, Chevron said, as are deliveries to ExxonMobil's Grand
Isle facility from tankage at Empire. With the startup of the Empire
terminal, delivery options for crude coming into that line also
include Mars Blend tanks at the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port at
Clovelly; 100,000 b/d is expected to flow into these tanks.
-- The environment for natural gas prices in the US this winter
remains precarious, and the likelihood of price spikes will remain
into next spring, outgoing Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan
said Nov 3. In testimony before Congress's Joint Economic Committee,
Greenspan linked the risks in the gas market to the lingering
effects of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, each of which in some
fashion disrupted production, processing and distribution of the gas
supply chain. Greenspan also noted disruptions in the oil sector
from the storms, but he said that the impact was most pronounced on
the gas sector since there has not been readily replaceable supply
as with oil.
-- The 190,000 b/d Chalmette refinery in Louisiana, heavily
damaged by Hurricane Katrina in August, began a "sequenced" restart
on Nov 1 and should be operating at full rates in two weeks,
Chalmette's 50% owner ExxonMobil said.
-- 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 Nov 7. 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."
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