Hurricane Sally strengthens, veers towards Mississippi

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Hurricane Sally continued to strengthen on Monday as its path veered eastwards towards Mississippi and away from Louisiana, meteorologists said.

Sally may now brush the extreme southeast portion of Louisiana before making landfall by Wednesday on the Mississippi coast, near the border with Alabama, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The following shows the path of the storm.

Source: National Hurricane Center

Despite the eastward shift, Louisiana is still under storm-surge and hurricane warnings.

Sally is now 105 miles (170 km) east of the mouth of the Mississippi river with maximum sustained winds of 100 miles/hour.

Some chemical plants have started to shut down, but most are monitoring the storm while maintaining operations.

STORM DETAILS
The National Hurricane Center has shifted its warnings eastward to reflect the new path of the storm.

A hurricane warning is in effect for Morgan City, Louisiana, to Navarre, Florida, the centre said. Meteorologists do not expect Sally to strengthen into a major hurricane.

However, they do expect Sally to be a slow-moving storm, so it could produce a lot of rain. The storm could produce eight to 16 inches (20-41 cm) of rain from the western part of the Florida panhandle to the extreme portion of southeast Louisiana. Some spots could receive 24 inches of rain.

The centre warned of life-threatening flash floods.

As Sally moves inland, it should produce four to eight inches of rain in parts of eastern Mississippi, central Alabama, northern Georgia and the western Carolinas, the centre said.

The centre issued a storm-surge warning from Port Fourchon, Louisiana, to the Okaloosa and Walton county line in Florida. Lakes Pontchartrain, Maurepas and Borgne are also under storm-surge warnings as well as Mobile Bay.

The coast of Mississippi could see the highest storm surges, with water levels reaching seven to 11 feet (two to three metres) from the mouth of the Mississippi river to Ocean Springs, Mississippi.

In Louisiana, the storm surge could reach three to five feet at Lakes Pontchartrain and Maurepas. It could reach two to four feet from Port Fourchon, Louisiana, to the mouth of the Mississippi river.

PLANTS
Hurricanes can disrupt plant operations in several ways. Strong winds can knock down electrical lines and cause power outages.

Heavy rains can flood roads, rail lines and even plants. Even if the plants suffer no damage, floods can prevent employees from showing up to work, and they can prevent units from receiving feedstock or delivering finished products.

Eastern Louisiana is home to many petrochemical plants and refineries, with several in Geismar, Plaquemine and Baton Rouge. Mississippi and Alabama also have some plants and refineries.

Phillips 66 shuts down its Alliance refinery in Belle Chasse, Louisiana, ahead of storm, the company said.

Cornerstone Chemical has begun to reduce rates and idle certain units at its plant in Fortier, Louisiana, the company said. It did not specify which units it would shut down. The idled plants will remain shut through the storm. The company makes acrylonitrile (ACN) and melamine.

Other companies are maintaining operations while they monitor the storm.

Valero plans to continue normal operations at its Meraux, Louisiana, refinery ahead of Hurricane Sally, according to market sources.

Pinnacle Polymers is operating its polypropylene (PP) plant in Garyville, Louisiana, normally, according to a source close to the company.

BASF’s complex at Geismar, Louisiana, is operating normally, according to a company spokesperson.

BASF’s Geismar facility produces methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI), toluene diisocyanate (TDI), aniline, nitrobenzene, polyether polyols, ethylene oxide (EO), butanediol (BDO), hydrochloric acid and surfactants.

Huntsman is operating its facilities in Geismar, Louisiana, normally, the company said. The plants make MDI, polyether polyols, nitrobenzene, aniline and maleic anhydride (MA).

US chlor-alkali producer Olin continues to run normal operations at its Louisiana and Alabama plants, according to a source close to the company.

Shintech will maintain normal operations at Addis, Louisiana, according to a company source.  The plant makes polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

ExxonMobil said its refinery in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is operating normally.

Chevron is closely monitoring Sally and following storm preparedness procedures at its onshore facilities, according to the company.

The company has a refinery in Pascagoula, Mississippi, that produces Group II base oils. Motiva and Phillips 66’s Excel Paralubes were shut because of Hurricane Laura in late August.

Dow sites in Louisiana are actively monitoring Hurricane Sally, the company said.

CRUDE OIL
Hurricanes and tropical storms can disrupt oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico by causing companies to evacuate platforms and shut-in wells.

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).

Oil companies had just recovered from Hurricane Laura when Sally began to form.

As of mid-day Monday, producers had shut in 395,790 bbl/day, 21.39% of total Gulf oil output, the US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) said. Producers had shut in 685.03m cubic feet per day of gas.

Personnel were evacuated from 147 production platforms, 22.86% of the 643 manned platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. Production platforms are the offshore structures from which oil and natural gas are produced. Unlike drilling rigs, which can be moved, production facilities remain in the same location throughout a project’s duration.

LOGISTICS
Union Pacific said the city of New Orleans had closed flood gates, which prevents interchange with eastern carriers.

The company has plans in place to suspend local rail operations in Avondale, Louisiana, as the storm passes through Louisiana. This includes the Avondale Intermodal Terminal, and it applies to inbound and outbound gate activity.

Norfolk Southern railroad warned that customers should expect delays as a result of the closing of the flood gates.

The ports of New Orleans, Mobile, Alabama, and Pascagoula, Mississippi, are closed with a condition of Zulu. When a port is under Zulu, gale force winds of at least 39 miles/hour are expected to arrive within 12 hours.

Port Fourchon in Louisiana is in “Storm Phase 4”, which is a mandatory evacuation for the area below the lock in Golden Meadow, as ordered by the Lafourche parish president. Roads are currently open to traffic, but this will transition to road closure if tides rise and overtop the roadway on low-lying areas, the Port Commission’s notice said.

The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP) has suspended operations at the Marine terminal, it said. There are no interruptions at the Clovelly hub.

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).

Additional reporting by Adam Burkin, John Donnelly, Lucas Hall, Amanda Hay, Anna Matherne, Zachary Moore and Luly Stephens

Click here to view the US Gulf storms – impacts on chemicals topic page.