Seeking Alpha – Hurricane Ida Update
- More than 90% of oil production in the Gulf of Mexico has shut down as Hurricane Ida plows toward the Louisiana coast, threatening an area that is home to 17% of U.S. oil production, 5% of natural gas output and 15% of U.S. refining capacity.
- Flooding and power outages in the region also could affect major pipelines that carry gasoline to the east coast, energy consultant Andy Lipow says.
- Lipow notes if New Orleans-area refineries take a direct hit from a Category 4 storm, gas prices likely would rise by ~$0.10/gallon in the southeast and Mid-Atlantic markets.
- Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) reportedly has cut production at its Baton Rouge refinery to 50% of its 520K bbl/day capacity.
- The company apparently was maintaining operations at the Baton Rouge Fuels Terminal, which has supplied 6.3M gallons of fuel this week to southeast Louisiana.
- Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) is said to have idled production units at its Meraux refinery southeast of New Orleans.
- Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) has fully shut down its 255K bbl/day Alliance refinery, which the company wants to sell in part because it has been hit so frequently by hurricanes.
- Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B) shut its 230K bbl/day Norco refinery and Geismar petrochemical plant.
- Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) has shut down its International Marine Terminals facility, which stores 1.7M tons of coal and petroleum coke, as well as its Harvey and Seven Oaks terminals.
- BP, Chevron (NYSE:CVX), Exxon, Equinor (NYSE:EQNR), BHP and Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) shut in and evacuated all of their offshore platforms.
- ETFs: XLE, USO, UCO, XOP, VDE, GUSH, OIH, CRAK
- Based on the projected path, Ida apparently will spare refineries in southwestern Louisiana, which were closed for more than a month after Hurricane Laura in 2020.
