By Erwin Seba
HOUSTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Coast Guard warned of possible port closures in Texas from Corpus Christi to Houston due to Hurricane Beryl, which is expected to make landfall on Monday morning south of Port Lavaca.
Port closures could temporarily halt shipments of crude oil to refineries and motor fuel from those plants.
Shell (LON:) Plc has completed the evacuation of workers from its Perdido production platform in the US-regulated Gulf of Mexico ahead of the approach of Tropical Storm Beryl, the company said late on Friday.
Production at Perdido was suspended before the evacuations. Shell said it also evacuated workers from the Whale platform, which is scheduled to begin production later this year.
Gibson Energy (TSX:), which operates a large oil terminal in Corpus Christi, said operations were continuing but it would take further action depending on the outlook.
The latest forecast would indicate that Corpus Christi would be on the dry side of the storm, where lighter winds and less rain could be expected. But Beryl could still bring hurricane-force winds to the port, prompting the Coast Guard to close it.
Most of the northern Gulf's offshore oil and production is located east of Beryl's projected path.
According to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, U.S. production in the Gulf of Mexico, at about 1.8 million barrels per day, accounts for about 14% of total output. Any impact on supplies could push up prices for U.S. oil and offshore crudes.
Major oil companies Chevron Corp (NYSE:), one of the largest U.S. offshore producers, said on Friday that output from its operated assets remained at normal levels. It added that it had evacuated non-essential personnel from some of its facilities in the Gulf of Mexico.
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