Several Texas refineries reported interruptions to their operations after severe thunderstorms packed with hurricane-force winds swept through Houston and caused a massive power outage in southeast Texas and parts of Louisiana.
Houston Mayor John Whitmire confirmed that at least four people were killed by the storm whose 100-mile-per-hour wind caused widespread damage to downtown skyscrapers, and he urged nonessential workers to stay home Friday. Local schools are also closed until Monday.
According to PowerOutage US, almost 1 million households were without power as of 11 a.m. ET in Texas and Louisiana, with southeast Texas being the region most affected.
A Chevron spokeswoman told OPIS early Friday that the company's 115,700 b/d Pasadena refinery in the Houston metro area sustained minor damage during the Thursday storm, as the company continued to supply customers from the refinery.
ExxonMobil's 384,000 b/d Beaumont refinery operations required flaring overnight between Thursday and Friday, according to a notification by the South Texas Alert Network.
An ExxonMobil spokeswoman said early Friday there were no significant impacts from the storm at the company's Beaumont and 588,000 b/d Baytown refineries, as the company continued to meet customer commitments.
In the Texas Panhandle area, a representative at Valero's 204,000 b/d McKee refinery said, during adverse weather conditions on Thursday, the plant's light ends compressors experienced a sudden feed disruption that required gas venting and flaring to minimize emissions.
A Marathon Petroleum spokesman declined to provide comment on current refinery operations. The largest refining company in the U.S. operates the 625,000 b/d Galveston Bay, Texas, and 627,000 b/d Garyville, La., refineries.
Phillips 66, which operates the 286,000 b/d Sweeny and 155,000 b/d Borger refineries in Texas, reported no impact related to the storm, a spokeswoman said.
Meanwhile, Motiva Enterprises said Thursday in a South Texas Alert Network notification that it would begin maintenance at its 659,700 b/d refinery in Port Arthur. The company did not provide additional information about the scope of the maintenance.
This content was created by Oil Price Information Service, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. OPIS is run independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
--Reporting by Frank Tang, ftang@opisnet.com; Editing by Michael Kelly, mkelly@opisnet.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
05-17-24 1211ET