Ship-tracking data showed that around 30 oil tankers were jamming off Louisiana ports on Tuesday as the US Coast Guard and port operators assessed damages from the Category 4 Hurricane Ida. Most of the anchored tankers were waiting outside the Mississippi River. Market participants said Baton Rouge and Lake Charles saw the largest concentration of these tankers. The two ports serve some refineries, including those operated by Exxon Mobil and Citgo Petroleum.
Many ports in Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi were closed before Ida slammed the US Gulf Coast on Monday. The ports of Lake Charles and Cameron in Louisiana and Biloxi and Pascagoula in Mississippi have resumed operations with some restrictions in place. Meanwhile, the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP) remained closed despite no major damage found during the initial assessment.
