September 16, 2008

photo of an oil platform
Refineries
• Fourteen refineries in Texas and Louisiana, representing 20 percent of total U.S. refining capacity, were reported shut down on Monday.
• So far, since refineries first shut down before Hurricane Gustav, more than 27 million barrels of refined products have not been produced, including nearly 13 million barrels of gasoline and 9 million barrels of distillate fuel.
• At this time most refineries are reporting limited or no significant damage, but more assessments will be made in coming days. Power shortages continue to be a main constraint in some areas.
• A spokesman for the joint operations of the southeast Texas emergency management agencies said the state’s refineries appeared to have escaped the kind of heavy flooding that left plants shut for months after the 2005 hurricanes.


photo of power lines
Electricity
• In Texas, over 2.2 million people, or 21 percent of the state's customers, were reported without power on Monday. Electricity has been restored to all but 5 percent of customers in Louisiana.
• High winds associated with Hurricane Ike have also caused major power outages in parts of the Midwest, Ohio Valley, and Northeast.


photo of a man pumping gas
Oil and Gas Production
• On Monday, the Minerals Management Service reported that nearly 100 percent of the oil production and 94 percent of the natural gas production in the Gulf remained shut in.
• The International Energy Agency and the United States are jointly assessing the extent of the possible damage on oil and gas production facilities and refinery/gas processing installations.


photo of a shipping port
Ports and Pipelines
• As of noon on Sept. 15, Colonial Pipeline’s gasoline line is operating intermittently while operators there await product injections. Efforts are focused on retrieving supplies from storage until Louisiana refineries come back on line.
• The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port has resumed limited deliveries of crude oil from its Clovelly storage facility, and tanker offloadings have resumed.
• Yesterday, the Henry Hub in Louisiana was still not accepting natural gas flows as a result of intermittent power outages. The Hub being out of service (for any reason) is a major issue to the U.S. energy complex, according to a district contact. The Hub is the gas supply control point for most of the country.