Rita: Huntsman plants in Texas, Louisiana without power

27 September 2005 01:42 [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--Huntsman said on Monday that its Port Arthur and Port Neches plants in Texas, as well as its Lake Charles plant in Louisiana, are still without power and other utilities after being slammed by Hurricane Rita on Saturday.

But the three plants did not suffer any serious structural damage, the company said.

In preparation for the storm, the company had closed those three plants as well as others at Conroe, Dayton, Chocolate Bayou and Freeport, all in Texas, and at Geismar in Louisiana. It also closed its headquarters in The Woodlands, north of Houston.

All but the plants in Port Arthur, Port Neches and Lake Charles are in the process of restarting and are expected to on line within the next 48 hours, Huntsman said on Monday evening.

The company is moving generators, mobile homes and motor homes to the sites of the three affected plants to house employees. The restart of the plants will depend on the availability of outside power, utilities and infrastructure, Huntsman said.

Meanwhile, Chevron Phillips Chemical said today its plants in Port Arthur and Orange, Texas were also affected by Rita.

Chevron Phillips shut down its processing units in the region in advance of the storm last week and on-site damage assessments were being conducted on Monday.

“Extensive community damage and power outages in this region complicate the safe return of personnel as well as access to resources to assess and commence repairs,” the company said in a statement.

Chevron Phillips said its five other Texas plants that were shut down in Baytown, Conroe, LaPorte Pasadena and Old Ocean sustained no significant damage. The company’s plant in St James, Louisiana also suffered no significant damage, the company said.

Chevron Phillips manufactures olefins and polyolefins, aromatics, alpha olefins, styrenics, specialty chemicals, piping and proprietary plastics.

Following is the status of chemical plants directly in the path of Hurricane Rita, as of Monday evening:

TEXAS

Company, location	Main products	Status
BASF, Port Arthur	Propylene, ethylene, benzene	Shut down, no major structural damage, no restart schedule
BASF, Beaumont	Various	Shut down, no major structural damage, no restart schedule
Chevron Phillips, Port Arthur	Ethylene, propylene, cyclohexane	Shut down; restricted access, power out, assessment ongoing
Chevron Phillips, Orange	HDPE	Shut down; restricted access, power out, assessment ongoing
DuPont, Beaumont		Shut down; structurally sound, environmental assessments under way
DuPont, Orange	Ethylene, propylene, LDPE	Shut down; structurally sound, environmental assessments under way
ExxonMobil, Beaumont	Ethylene, paraxylene, polyethylene, LDPE	Shut down; working to restore basic utilities
Goodyear, Beaumont	Styrene-butadiene rubber	Shut down
Huntsman, Port Neches	Ethylene, ethylene oxide, ethylene glycol	Shut down, no serious structural damage; restart dependant on restoration of outside utilities
Huntsman, Port Arthur	Various	Shut down, no serious structural damage; restart dependant on restoration of outside utilities
ISP Elastomers, Port Neches	Styrene-butadiene rubber (emulsion)	Force majeure declared, no restart expected before 10 October at the earliest
Lanxess, Orange	Ethylene, propylene, diene terpolymer, SBR	Shut down; some structural damage and flooding
Lyondell - PD Glycol, Beaumont	Ethylene glycol, ethylene oxide	Access restricted by flooding, but no significant damage; restart to take several weeks at minimum

LOUISIANA

Company, location	Main products	Status
Arch Chemicals, Lake Charles	Hydrazine hydrate	No information available
Basell Polyolefins, Lake Charles	Polypropylene	No information available
CertainTeed, Lake Charles	Polyvinyl chloride	No information available
Citgo, Lakes Charles	Benzene, MTBE, propylene	Shut down, assessment under way; partial restart of associated refinery on Monday
ConocoPhillips, Lake Charles	MTBE, sulphuric acid	Damage still being assessed; wind damage and power outage at associated refinery
Georgia Gulf, Lake Charles	Vinyl chloride, ethylene dichloride	No information available
Huntsman, Lake Charles	Various	Shut down, no serious structural damage; restart dependant on restoration of outside utilities
Louisiana Pigment, Lake Charles	Titanium dioxide	No information available
PHH Monomers, Lake Charles	Vinyl chloride, ethylene dichloride	No information available
PPG Industries, Lake Charles	Perchloroethylene, Trichloroethylene, Caustic soda, chlorine, ethylene dichloride	Shut down, force majeure declared. Water and debris clean up under way. Only temporary power available
Sasol, Lake Charles	Ethylene, Linear alkylbenzene, butanol	Shut down; no damage reported
Westlake, Lake Charles	Ethylene, LDPE, styrene	Minor physical damage; shut down, awaiting restoration of feedstock and utilities

(With additional reporting by Brian Ford)

By: Stephen Burns
+1 713 525 2653

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