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Storm recovery begins; limited refinery damage seen

PennEnergy

Nick Snow
Washington Editor

WASHINGTON, Sept. 15 -- The US oil and gas industry reported early progress as it began to recover from damage caused by Hurricane Ike.

"Clearly, we have experienced damage to a number of our facilities," American Petroleum Institute Pres. Red Cavaney said in an afternoon briefing. "However, it appears to be less than that associated with Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005."

Fourteen refineries in Texas and Louisiana remained shut down in the morning of Sept. 15, the US Department of Energy said. But the installations apparently suffered minimal damage, and companies are preparing to restart operations.

DOE earlier reported 15 refineries as idle but for the most recent report reclassified the 288,000 Flint Hills refinery in Corpus Christi as operating at reduced throughput (OGJ Online, Sept. 14, 2008).

Company reports
Valero Energy Corp. reported no significant damage to its refineries hit by the storm, according to DOE. It said that the independent refiner-marketer's Houston plant has some electricity, but its Texas City and Port Arthur refineries still are without power.