Marco weakens to tropical storm as it heads towards Louisiana

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Marco has weakened to a tropical storm as it continues to move towards Louisiana, where it should make landfall by Tuesday, meteorologists said.

Another tropical storm, Laura, is expected to enter the Gulf of Mexico on the same day, where it is expected to strengthen into a hurricane.

Laura should make landfall by Thursday, leaving little time to recover from Marco.

Both storms have led to companies shutting-in more than 50% of US oil production in the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf Coast is home to several refineries and chemical plants, with one already announcing plans to shut down.

Preparations for the storm have already disrupted railroad traffic.

TROPICAL STORM MARCO
Marco is 55 miles (90 km) southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River, with maximum sustained winds of 55 miles/hour, according to the National Hurricane Center. It is travelling north-northwest at 8 miles/hour.

Marco should weaken into a tropical depression later in the night before dissipating in the next couple of days

The hurricane centre issued a storm-surge warning from Morgan City, Louisiana to Ocean Springs, Mississippi.

The following map shows the projected path of tropical storm Marco.

Source: National Hurricane Center

TROPICAL STORM LAURA
Tropical storm Laura is near central Cuba, travelling west-northwest at 20 miles/hour, with maximum sustained winds of 60 miles/hour, the National Hurricane Center said. It should become a hurricane on Tuesday and strengthen further as it approaches the Gulf Coast.

The following shows the projected path of tropical storm Laura.

Source: National Hurricane Center

OIL SHUT-INS
In preparation for the storms, oil companies have evacuated 114 platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, representing 17.73% of the platforms in US waters, according to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE).

Platforms produce oil and natural gas offshore. Unlike drilling rigs, which typically move from location to location, platforms stay in place throughout a project’s duration.

Companies have shut-in nearly 1.07m bbl/day of oil production in the Gulf, representing 57.6% of the US total, the BSEE said. Gas shut-ins have reached 1.21bn cubic feet/day, representing 44.6% of the total.

The Gulf of Mexico hosts several offshore oil wells, accounting for 17% of the nation’s crude production, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). The region is home to more than 45% of its refining capacity and 51% of its natural-gas-processing capacity.

The Gulf Coast has several terminals that export oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG), fuel and natural gas liquids (NGLs).

LOOP
The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP) has suspended operations at the Marine Terminal, it said. Deliveries at Clovelly Hub remain normal.

The LOOP is an offshore oil terminal that is 20 miles from the coast. It is the only US port capable of fully loading a very large crude carrier (VLCC).

LNG
There are four operational LNG facilities along the Gulf Coast; Corpus Christi and Freeport LNG in Texas; and Sabine Pass and Cameron LNG in Louisiana.

The brownfield Golden Pass project is under construction in Texas, along with Venture Global’s greenfield Calcasieu Pass in Louisiana.

Both storms appear not likely to have an impact on the Elba LNG plant near Savannah, Georgia.

RAILROADS
The city of New Orleans is closing its flood gates, which will prevent interchange with eastern carriers, the railroad company Union Pacific said.

In addition, Union Pacific is shutting down its intermodal terminal in Avondale, Louisiana, it said.

CHEMICAL PLANTS, REFINERIES
Louisiana Pigment, a joint venture made up of Tronox and Venator Materials, plans to shut down operations of its titanium dioxide (TiO2) plant on Tuesday in Louisiana. It has a capacity of 150,000 tonnes/year.

Westlake, which has a styrene plant in Lake Charles, Louisiana, is currently planning its response, a market source said.

LyondellBasell said it continues to actively monitor the paths of tropical storms Marco and Laura.

ExxonMobil said it is closely monitoring tropical storms Laura and Marco. All downstream operations are currently normal.

The following are some Louisiana chemical plants listed in the ICIS Supply and Demand Database.

Company	Site(s)	Product(s)
American Styrenics	St James	Styrene
BASF	Geismar	BDO, EO, MDI, TDI
CITGO	Lake Charles	Toluene, MX
Cornerstone	Fortier	Melamine, ACN
COS-MAR	Carville	Styrene
Dow	Plaquemine	EO, gycol ethers, PG, LLDPE, LDPE
Dow	Taft	Ethanolamines, ethylene, propylene, LLDPE
Excel Paralubes	Westlake	Base oil
ExxonMobil	Baton Rouge	Ethylene, propylene, BD, toluene, PP, PVC, VCM, HDPE, LDPE
Formosa Plastics USA	Baton Rouge	PVC
Huntsman	Geismar	MDI
Indorama	Lake Charles	Ethylene, propylene
INEOS Oxide	Plaquemine	Ethanolamines
LACC	Lake Charles	Ethylene, EG
LyondellBasell	Lake Charles	PP
Methanex	Geismar	Methanol
NOVA	Geismar	Ethylene, propylene
Olin	St Gabriel	Caustic soda, chlorine
Oxy Chem	Convent, Taft	Caustic soda, chlorine
Phillips 66	Belle Chasse	Benzene, MX, toluene, propylene
Pinnacle Polymers	Garyville	PP
Roehm	Fortier	MMA
Sasol	Lake Charles	Ethylene, LLDPE
Shell	Geismar	EO, EG
Shell	Norco	Ethylene, propylene, BD
Shintech	Addis	PVC, VCM
Shintech	Plaquemine	PVC, VCM, EDC, chlor-alkali
Total	Carville	PS
Westlake	Lake Charles	Ethylene, styrene, LDPE, LLDPE
Westlake	Plaquemine	PVC, VCM

Additional reporting by Joseph Chang, Tracy Dang, Ruth Liao, Michael Sims, Antoinette Smith and Adam Yanelli