Hurricane Isaac knocks out power, roads in Louisiana

29 August 2012 16:44  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS)--Hurricane Isaac left large parts of southern Louisiana without power and several roads closed as the storm continued pounding the state on Wednesday.

Entergy, the region's main power provider, reported that more than 409,000 customers were without power as of 500 hours New Orleans time (1000 GMT).

Strong winds were preventing the company from restoring power, the company said.

An Entergy map showed that lines were down in several parts of southeast Louisiana, an area with several refineries and petrochemical plants.

Phillips 66 said it shut down its 247,000 bbl/day Alliance Refinery in Belle Chasse, which was without power. Phillips 66 said it had yet to determine if flooding had damaged the refinery.

Phillips 66 said its 239,000 bbl/day Lake Charles Refinery in Westlake, Louisiana, remained in operation.

Likewise, the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development issued a map, warning of several restrictions along the state's roads, especially in the southeastern part of the state.

The Associated Press (AP) reported that Isaac overwhelmed a levee in a rural town outside of New Orleans. However, the levee did not break.

Moreover, there were no reports of water going over the top of the New Orleans levees, which were strengthened after Hurricane Katrina.

Wednesday is the seventh anniversary of Katrina. Hurricane Isaac made landfall a day earlier.

Isaac was 45 miles (75km) southwest of New Orleans, travelling northwest at 6 miles/hour, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Despite making landfall, Isaac was still a hurricane, with maximum sustained wind speeds of 75 miles/hour.

The centre warned that Isaac could still produce storm surges and flooding throughout the area until the end of the day.

Already, a storm surge of nearly 8 feet (2.4 metres) was reported at Shell Beach, Louisiana, and Waveland, Mississippi, the centre said.

Hurricanes can disrupt the North American petrochemical industry, since oil and gas production is concentrated in the Gulf of Mexico and many of the country's refineries and petrochemical plants are on the US Gulf coast.

So far, several petrochemical plants and refineries have either reduced operating rates or shut down in preparation for Hurricane Isaac. Shutdowns include BASF and Huntsman's complexes in Geismar, Louisiana.

Companies have shut in nearly all of the crude oil production in the Gulf of Mexico and more than half of its natural gas production.

In addition, Isaac has also disrupted logistics, with the port of New Orleans shutting down cargo operations and the port of South Louisiana closing.

The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP)shut down marine operations and suspended oil tanker deliveries.

US-based railroad CSX has curtailed service in and around New Orleans, Louisiana.

The following companies have announced that they were either reducing operating rates or shutting down plants.

Company	Product	Site	Status
BASF	MDI, TDI, BDO, EO	Geismar	shut
Cornerstone Chemicals	melamine	Waggaman	shut
CF Industries	fertilizers	Donaldsonville	shut
ExxonMobil	refined products	Chalmette	shut
ExxonMobil	refined products	Baton Rouge	reduced
Huntsman	MDI, MA	Geismar	shut
Marathon	refined products	Garyville	reduced
Mosaic	fertilizers	Faustina	shut
Mosaic	fertilizers	Uncle Sam	shut
Motiva	refined products	Convent	shut
Motiva	refined products	Norco	reduced
Olin	chlor-alkalis	St Gabriel	shut
Olin	chlor-alkalis	McIntosh, Alabama	shut
Phillips 66	refined products	Belle Chasse	shut
PotashCorp	fertilizers	Geismar	shut
Shell	refined products	Geismar	shut
Shell	refined products	Mobile, Alabama	reduced
Valero	refined products	St Charles	shut
Valero	refined products	Meraux	shut
Valero	refined products	Memphis, Tennessee	reduced

Additional reporting by Stefan Baumgarten, Wesley Busch, John Dietrich, Brian Ford, Ken Fountain, Lane Kelley, Michelle Klump, Anna Matherne, Larry Terry and Frank Zaworski

By: Al Greenwood
+1 713 525 2645

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