MOSCOW (MRC) -- US energy companies on Thursday began airlifting workers from Gulf of Mexico oil platforms and moved vessels ahead of a powerful hurricane forecast for the weekend, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.
Gulf of Mexico offshore wells account for 17% of US crude oil production and 5% of dry natural gas production. Over 45% of total US refining capacity lies along the Gulf Coast.
Exxon Mobil Corp said it was preparing its 520,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Baton Rouge, Louisiana refinery for severe weather, but operations were normal on Thursday.
Phillips 66 operations at refineries in Lake Charles and Alliance, Louisiana, “will be adjusted based on the storm’s progression,” spokesman Bernardo Fallas said.
BP PLC, BHP, Chevron, Equinor and Royal Dutch Shell removed workers from offshore facilities, spokespeople said. BHP and Chevron evacuated non-essential staff while Equinor said it is preparing to move workers off its Titan platform.
BHP, BP and Shell said they have begun to shut in production at offshore platforms. Chevron said its production remained at normal levels on Thursday, while Occidental Petroleum and Hess Corp said they are monitoring weather conditions.U.S. Gulf Coast gasoline prices rose in the past two trading sessions because of concerns around the storm, traders said.
Tropical Storm Ida was swirling in the Caribbean Sea and forecast to march through the main oil-producing region of the Gulf on Friday. Louisiana declared a state of emergency and called on residents to prepare for a major hurricane. Ida is expected to strike the central Gulf Coast with a life-threatening storm surge, damaging winds and heavy rains, the National Hurricane Center said. It could make landfall as a category 3 hurricane packing winds of up to 111 miles (178 km) per hour.
As MRC reported before, the fourth-largest US refiner Phillips 66 said earlier this month that it put the smaller of its two Louisiana refineries up for sale amid continued losses and an uncertain future for motor fuels. The company is holding talks with a potential buyer on the sale of its 255,600 barrel-per-day (bpd) Alliance refinery in Belle Chasse, Louisiana, according to two people familiar with the matter. The identity of the potential buyer could not immediately be learned. US refiners have closed or sold oil processing plants as the COVID-19 pandemic slashed demand for gasoline and jet fuel, generating losses for the industry.
Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,176,860 tonnes in the first half of 2021, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of exclusively low density polyethylene (LDPE) decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 727,160 tonnes in the first six months of 2021, up by 31% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased. Supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.
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