UpdateUS energy, petchems keep eye on Gustav

27 August 2008 20:37  [Source: ICIS news]

(Adds updates and background throughout; adds dropped word "not" in paragraph 5)

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--BP joined Shell on Wednesday in saying it was evacuating non-essential personnel from offshore platforms ahead of Tropical Storm Gustav.

The storm was expected to regain hurricane strength in the next day or two after it had weakened over Haiti, and it could enter the Gulf of Mexico by the weekend.

“We are monitoring Tropical Storm Gustav,” BP said. “Production has not been impacted.”

Shell said earlier on Wednesday it had begun evacuations in preparation for Gustav.

ExxonMobil said it had not made any evacuations from its offshore operations as of mid-Wednesday but was monitoring the situation. ExxonMobil said there has been no impact on production.

Meanwhile, US petrochemicals manufacturers said they also were keeping a close eye on Gustav.

Dow Chemical was watching and monitoring Gustav and has hurricane plans in place that could be implemented, depending on the direction of the storm, a company spokesman said.

“All of our sites on the Texas and Louisiana Gulf coast are operational at this point,” Dow spokesman David Winder said. “Depending on where the storm goes, each plant has a hurricane plan that it will enact.”

Formosa Plastics said it has a hurricane preparedness plan in place.

ExxonMobil Chemical said it also was monitoring the situation.

Much of the US energy and petrochemical production is clustered along the Gulf coast. In August and September of 2005, hurricanes Katrina and Rita greatly disrupted refinery and plant production.

Gustav weakened from a hurricane to a tropical storm with winds up to 60 miles/hour (95km/hour) after it struck Haiti and the Dominican Republic, where it killed 11 people, according to news reports.

Five-day projections by the National Hurricane Center showed the storm could hit the US Gulf coast.

Gustav was located about 110 miles (180km) west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti as of 10:00 Houston time (15:00 GMT), according to the National Hurricane Center. The storm was moving west-northwest at nearly 5 miles/hour.

“A west-northwest track is forecast during the next day or two with a gradual increase in forward speed,” the Hurricane Center said. “Gustav should pass between Jamaica and the southeast coast of Cuba on Thursday.

Shell said it evacuated 300 non-essential personnel from its offshore operations but those evacuations had no impact on production.

(Additional reporting by Steven McGinn and Leela Landress)

To discuss issues facing the chemical industry go to ICIS connect

By: Brian Ford
+1 713 525 2653

< previous article(VIDEO - ICIS news Asia Lunchtime Bulletin 29 October 2009)

For the latest chemical news, data and analysis that directly impacts your business sign up for a free trial to ICIS news - the breaking online news service for the global chemical industry.

Get the facts and analysis behind the headlines from our market leading weekly magazine: sign up to a free trial to ICIS Chemical Business.

Printer Friendly