More refineries, Colonial Pipeline lines restarting after Harvey
http://www.ogj.com/articles/2017/09/more-refineries-colonial-pipeline-segment-move-toward-restart-after-harvey.html09/05/2017
US Gulf Coast refiners and shippers continue to restore operations amid possible damages and logistical constraints caused by Hurricane and Tropical Storm Harvey. Meanwhile, upstream firms are still monitoring the midstream and downstream recovery to determine how much oil and gas they can produce.
Colonial Pipeline Co. said it restarted its distillate Line 2 between Houston and Lake Charles, La., on Sept. 4 and its gasoline Line 2 between Houston and Lake Charles on Sept. 5.
Colonial had continued to ship available gasoline and other refined products from Louisiana-based refineries and other refineries on the Colonial system east of Lake Charles.
As of 1:30 p.m. CDT on Sept. 5, five Gulf Coast refineries had begun the process of restarting after being shut down, the US Department of Energy reported. This process may take several days or weeks to start producing product depending whether any damage is found during restart.
The restarting refineries have a combined capacity of 1.55 million b/d, or 16% of total Gulf Coast (PADD 3) refining capacity and 8.4% of total US refining capacity.
At least seven refineries in the US Gulf Coast were operating at reduced rates as of midday Sept. 5, according to public reports. These refineries have a combined total capacity of 1.67 million b/d, or 17.2% of total Gulf Coast (PADD 3) refining capacity and 9% of total US refining capacity.
Six refineries in the region were shut down representing a combined capacity of 1.66 million b/d, or 17.2% of total Gulf Coast (PADD 3) refining capacity and 9% of total US refining capacity.
ExxonMobil Corp. said on Sept. 5 that facility assessments and restart activities continue at its 584,000-b/d Baytown, Tex., refinery. The firm added that it has made progress in restarting chemical production, pipelines, and other logistical infrastructure in the Houston area.
Motiva Enterprises LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Saudi Aramco's Saudi Refining Inc. (SRI), said its 600,000-b/d refinery in Port Arthur, Tex., is in the final phases of equipment assessments and initial phases of startup. It expects the refinery to initially return to 40% production "by the end of this weekend provided that the final assessments meet our operational standards."
Valero Energy Corp. said on Sept. 4 that its 293,000-b/d Corpus Christi and 225,000-b/d Texas City refineries are at pre-hurricane rates.
Its 89,000-b/d Three Rivers refinery continues to ramp up and 191,000-b/d Houston refinery will increase rates as transportation and logistics infrastructure becomes more available. Its 335,000-b/d Port Arthur refinery is in the final stages of assessment and preparing to resume operations.
DOE late last week okayed release of more crude from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve—this time up to 4.5 million bbl—after saying it would send 500,000 bbl to Phillips 66’s 249,000-b/d Lake Charles refinery (OGJ Online, Sept. 1 , 2017).
For now, Marathon Petroleum Corp. is taking 3 million bbl while Valero is receiving 500,000 bbl....
