GALVESTON, Texas-- Last Wednesday, when Hurricane Rita reached the Category 5 level as it crossed the Gulf of Mexico, retailers and consumers across the country began holding their breath as what appeared to be the mother of all storms barreled toward Texas and its refinery-rich coast. Turns out Rita, downgraded to a Category 3 storm by the time it made landfall Friday night, was more like Hurricane Katrina's little sister, reeking havoc where it could, but not causing nearly the mess Katrina did a month earlier.
In Rita's wake, crude oil prices dropped [image-nocss] and gasoline prices nationwide held steady over the weekend. Closer to the eye of the storm, gasoline supply was hit and miss and gasoline tanker trucks were being treated like royalty in Houston, where at least one driver was greeted with great fanfare as he arrived at a gas station to make a delivery.
And the locals helped one another where they could. The Monitor offered the tale of a Bridge City, Texas, convenience store owner who, despite being without electricity, let his regulars pick up some groceries on the honor system over the weekend. I don't want business, I just want to help them, Stop & Drive manager Momin Qumruddin told the newspaper. I am selling stuff and writing it down.
Qumruddin said he had gasoline, but without electricity, was unable to pump it. Such was the case throughout much of southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana, which absorbed the brunt of the storm. Baton Rouge, La., probably had as much damage [from Rita] as from Katrina, Jim Bickley, president of the Cracker Barrel chain of c-stores, told CSP Daily News. Katrina was a northwest wind and Rita was a southeast wind; so if a tree or fence survived the northwest wind, it may not have survived the southwest wind.
Bickley said at least three of his 53 stores lost power in the storm. As of Monday morning, one store in Abbeville, La., was still being operated on a small generator and gasoline was on the way.
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In Houston, Mayor Bill White, wanting to avoid the gridlock that occurred as people fled from Rita, asked gas station attendants, c-store clerks and grocery store workers to come back quickly. There is some fuel available in tankers, but they can't deliver it if you're not there, he said.
For refineries in the storm-torn area, the damage was mostly minor, according to several reports. Most took a tone of caution, however, when discussing the outcome of the storm. I'm not sure there should be a rush to exuberance here, even though we dodged a bullet, oil analyst John Kilduff of Fimat USA in New York told the Associated Press. Kilduff said oil prices could fall below $60 a barrel within a week if there's no major damage to Gulf Coast energy infrastructures emerges.
Meanwhile, President Bush said Monday that the government is prepared to again tap into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to alleviate any new pain at the pump caused by Rita's assault on the center of the nation's energy industry.
With early indicators offering reason for optimism and a speedy recovery, Bush nonetheless warned Americans to expect some effect on energy supplies. "A lot of our production comes from the Gulf, and when you have a Hurricane Katrina followed by a Hurricane Rita, it's natural, unfortunately, that it's going to affect supplies," he said after a briefing at the Energy Department, according to AP. "It's important for our people to know that we understand the situation, and we're willing to use the [SPR] to mitigate any shortfall in crude oil that could affect our consumers."
The refining sector dodged a bullet, David Pursell, a partner at Pickering Energy Partners in Houston, told Bloomberg. It looks like refineries are off for weeks, not months.
Here's a list of refinery status from several of the oil companies in the Gulf Coast:
Shell
Shell Oil Co. and Motiva Enterprises LLC said that greater than 1.8 million gallons of fuel have been shipped to gas stations across the greater Houston area and strategic locations along major return routes. As of approximately 6:00 p.m. CDT Sunday, September 25, Shell and Motiva had shipped 201 tank loads with plans to deliver another 40 tanker loads of fuel by midnight tonight. The addition of six company-operated tankers were added yesterday morning to support distribution operations. Additional tankers provided by wholesalers and contractors were also supporting the companies' fuel supply efforts. Both the North Houston and Pasadena, Texas, terminals are fully operational and servicing the area. In addition to prioritizing fuel supply in the immediately affected areas and along return routes from Dallas, Austin and San Antonio, Shell and Motiva are working with local authorities to ensure fuel supply for emergency vehicles. To date, the companies have delivered fuel to help support the Houston Metro system, Houston Police Department and Houston Fire Department. Shell and Motiva continue to closely monitor production and supply as the industry continues efforts to repair and restart facilities impacted by two hurricanes in order to maintain consistent supply across the country and return to normal operations. The companies continue to support local officials' requests to consumers to conserve fuel and avoid unnecessary driving while teams work to resupply the area.
BP
BP was assessing the affect of Hurricane Rita on its Texas City, Texas, refinery over the weekend. The refinery was shut down in advance of the hurricane on Wednesday, September 21. The refinery has electrical power, and initial visual inspections have revealed no significant flooding or obvious damage to process units. One empty product storage tank was damaged. The length of the recovery and restart period was unknown.
Chevron
Chevron Corp.'s refined products terminal in Galena Park, Texas, was closed prior to the storm, but re-opened to tanker truck service midday Saturday. The company also is assessing off-shore oil and natural-gas production facilities as weather permits. Chevron's Houston offices will reopen today, September 27; however, the company is advising employees who left Houston during the evacuation to follow plans laid out by public officials regarding their attempted return to the city. Chevron has set up a toll-free telephone number(800) 334-3963to help employees affected by Rita to let the company know of their current situations.
CITGO
An assessment of CITGO Petroleum Corp.'s Lake Charles, La., manufacturing complex was under way Sunday, and a restart of that facility was to be initiated as soon as possible. Meanwhile, operations at the company's Corpus Christi, Texas, refinery are nearing normal levels of operation. CITGO's corporate headquarters facility in Houston was not affected by the hurricane. The facility will reopen Wednesday, September 28.
ExxonMobil
At the Exxon Mobil Corp. Beaumont, Texas, refinery, spokesperson Kathleen Jackson said Sunday the refinery was beginning to call selective crewmembers who are key to restarting the refinery when electric power finally becomes available. From a potential damage standpoint, Jackson said, It didn't look too bad. Over the weekend, the company posted a list of its retail sites in the Houston area that are open for business and supplied with gasoline. The list is being updated twice a day. ExxonMobil also took out full-page ads in newspapers across the country encouraging consumers to use gasoline wisely during this difficult time, while also noting that the company is sparing no effort to ensure that any disruption to energy supply and distribution is minimalized.
Marathon
Marathon Petroleum Co.'s Texas City refinery began startup yesterday. Refinery units will be brought on-line as appropriate, according to the company's safe-start procedures. Some pipeline systems operated by Marathon Pipe Line were shutdown previously. Personnel are developing plans to address storm damage and begin startup of the pipelines.
Total Petrochemicals USA
Total Petrochemicals USA's Port Arthur, Texas, refinery was attempting on Sunday to make the temporary electrical connection necessary to get the gasoline out, said Total spokesperson Rick Hagar. The refinery in Port Arthur seems to be mechanically sound, he said, but electric transmission lines are down. A full assessment cannot be completed without power.
Valero
A day after Rita hit the Texas coast, Valero, which operates a refinery in Texas City, sent a fleet of tanker trucks with fuel to its Diamond Shamrock and Valero c-stores across the Gulf Coast. Valero has 151 stores in the Houston-Galveston area, but of those only 76 had gasoline as of Sunday morning, said company spokesperson Mary Rose Brown. Meanwhile, Valero's Texas City refinery remained shutdown, but crews were working on having it up and running by Wednesday.
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