Energy companies on Monday started evaluation of facilities hit by hurricane Ida which also created flooding onshore and “catastrophically” damaged Louisiana’s power grid. According to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, over 95% or around 1.74 million bpd of US Gulf crude production was halted as of Sunday. Now, the power outages are posing major challenges to restart oil and gas processing plants.
Utilities officials expect power outages to last about three weeks, slowing efforts to repair and restart energy facilities. Aerial surveys showed refineries in Norco,and Belle Chasse remained swamped a day after Ida passed. Last year, power outages left refineries idle for up to five weeks, costing owners millions of dollars in lost output. Industry analysts expect refiners to take two to four weeks to restore their operation to normal levels.
Exxon halted operations at its 520,000 bpd Baton Rouge refining and chemical complex as it was unable to secure power and raw materials supplies. Meanwhile, Phillips 66 said it would carry out a post-storm assessment at a refinery in Louisiana when it is safe to do so. Colonial Pipeline said it planned to resume gasoline and diesel flows at its Houston-Greensboro lines. GasBuddy estimated the widespread shutdown to push retail gasoline prices by 5-15 cents per gallon.
