US Gulf Coast Braces for Hurricane Laura
Energy infrastructure in the US Gulf Coast region has seen major disruptions because of the risk from the arrival of Hurricane Laura later this week.
The hurricane is expected to make landfall in Louisiana and Texas either late August 26 or early August 27 local time, reaching potentially up to Category 4 intensity, the National Hurricane Centre (NHC) has said on its website. It could penetrate up to 48 km inland causing "potentially catastrophic damage" from San Luis Pass in Texas to the mouth of the Mississippi.
The Gulf of Mexico is a major hub for oil and gas production in the US, while over half of total US oil refining capacity is located in the Gulf Coast region, along with the bulk of the country's LNG export capacity.
"Laura has become a formidable hurricane, the NHC said. "A life-threatening storm surge with large and dangerous waves is expected to produce potentially catastrophic damage."
According to the US department of energy, more than 82% of oil production in the US Gulf of Mexico, amounting to 1.52mn b/d, had been taken offline as of 12:30 EDT on August 24. Almost 57% of gas output in the area was also shut-in, or around 1.5bn ft3/d.
Some 281 out of 643 manned platforms have been evacuated, along with six out of 10 non-dynamically positioned rigs. Eleven of the 16 dynamically positioned rigs in the region have been moved out of the storm's path as a precaution. The ports of New Orleans, Gramercy, Morgan City and Baton Rouge have also been closed.
US LNG exporter Cheniere Energy has temporarily halted operations at its Sabine Pass LNG terminal in Louisiana ahead of the storm's arrival, it told Reuters on August 25. The nearby Cameron LNG plant will run at "a reduced rate with a ride-out team of essential operations personnel," its operator told the news agency. Operations will continue at the Freeport LNG plant in Texas but adjustments will be made if necessary, Reuters said citing the terminal operator.