Louisiana's energy sector is beginning to take stock of any damages after Hurricane Ida swept through with winds up to 150 miles per hour over the weekend.
Several oil refineries in the state shut down before the storm and offshore oil workers were brought back to shore. But a major hub for the oil industry took a direct hit from the storm and is without water or power.
Port Fourchon, which sits near the mouth of the Gulf of Mexico had severe damage during the hurricane.
"We had extensive damages to the port, said Chett Chiasson, executive director at Port Fourchon. "We had pretty strong storm surge from 12 feet to 15 feet with extensive damage to much of the area, buildings and roof damage."
Port officials were still trying to gauge the extent of damages Monday morning and were making plans to survey the facility by air. The communications towers in the region are down and there's no running water. If the port is closed for 90 days there would be an estimated loss of $7.8 billion in gross domestic product from operations there, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
"We're still still trying to work our way through the roadways to get to it," he said. "We might need water trucks, then gas and diesel are going to be critical in the coming days."
Essential employees hunkered down at the administrative offices in Cutoff, about 35 miles north of the port. The offices were running off of back-up generators. About 18% of the entire U.S. oil supply passes through the port.
There were about 40 vessels in the port before the storm hit but there are usually hundreds.
"We know of several vessels that broke loose and moved around but as far as we know nobody is seriously hurt, Chiasson said.
Now the port has to assess all navigable waterways and check for underwater debris which is 'time consuming'.
Chiasson said he grew up in the area and has rode out many hurricanes, but he said Ida has been the strongest storm.
Port Fourchon customer Chevron shut in its terminals and related pipeline systems before the storm.
Meanwhile in Baton Rouge, the ExxonMobil Refinery and Chemical Complex was still somewhat operational during the storm though was not running at full capacity. The Baton Rouge complex did not have any significant damages due to the storm but is flaring to keep operations online.
"The refinery is shutting down units to stabilize operations and will experience flaring during that process," according to a statement from ExxonMobil. "Once we confirm we have access to the needed feedstocks and third party utilities to stabilize our systems we will begin the process of returning to normal operations."
Several other crude oil refineries around the state shut down before Hurricane Ida rolled through.
Valero's St. Charles and Meraux refineries were idled but the company's other Gulf Coast facilities were still operational. Phillips 66's Alliance Refinery in Belle Chasse alongside Shell's refinery in Norco was shut down before the storm. Diamond Green Diesel, a renewable diesel refinery in Norco was also shut down.
It was not immediately clear if there was any damage to these facilities or when operations would restart.
The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port which sits about 18 miles offshore of Port Fourchon closed before the storm and declined to offer any updates. LOOP, as a deepwater port, is part of the critical infrastructure network which handles about 1.2 million barrels of oil each day. LOOP's storage is 25 miles onshore near Galliano with capacity up to 2.4 million barrels of oil.
"LOOP continues to implement its inclement weather plan and is working directly with shippers to minimize shipper storm related impacts, deliveries will be temporarily paused until storm impacts subside," according to a statement from LOOP.
The Colonial Pipeline, which brings gasoline and other oil products from Houston to New Jersey and supplies roughly 45% of the fuel consumed on the East Coast was temporarily shut down due to the storm as well.
Oil and gas companies evacuated 288 offshore facilities which shut in 96% of crude oil production in the Gulf of Mexico before the storm. Shell expects to conduct its own flyover in the Gulf of Mexico on Monday.
Moody's Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi estimated that "worst case scenario" is that Hurricane Ida might add between 10 cents and 20 cents to the price of a gallon of gas through September.
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August 30, 2021 at 09:20PM
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Louisiana's energy hub surveying damage after Hurricane Ida - The Advocate
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