U.S. Gulf Coast LNG export plants, refineries, production facilities brace for Francine
Tropical Storm Francine was intensifying and on track to become a hurricane on Tuesday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said, prompting Louisiana residents to flee inland and oil and gas companies to shut-in Gulf of Mexico production.
Francine could wallop the Louisiana coast on Wednesday with life-threatening winds, drenching rains and an up to 10-ft (3-m) storm surge. Authorities called for a mandatory evacuation of residents in coastal communities, schools were shut and officials distributed sandbags.
The storm is anticipated to increase its forward speed on Tuesday just off the coasts of northeastern Mexico and southern Texas before making landfall near Cameron in Louisiana. It will be a major test for liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plants recently built in the region.
Energy companies began evacuating offshore workers and shut-in output at several production platforms ahead of the storm.
The region is home to about 15% of U.S. oil production and 2% of natural gas output.
U.S. natural gas prices rose over 2% on worries about the production shut-ins and potential impact on LNG plants. Global oil demand concerns overshadowed the storm and U.S. crude futures fell more than 5%.
Oil refiners and fuel distributors along the Louisiana coast were preparing to weather the storm. Citgo Petroleum said its Lake Charles oil refinery was implementing its hurricane plan.
Kinder Morgan said it plans to shut by the end of Tuesday its coal-handling International Marine Terminal on the Mississippi River.
The port of Brownsville near the border with Mexico and other smaller terminals in Texas remained closed on Tuesday, while other ports, including Houston, Galveston, Corpus Christi, Texas City and Freeport, were working with restrictions.
Between Texas and Louisiana, the Coast Guard set port condition "Yankee" for Beaumont, Port Arthur, Lake Charles, Cameron, Sabine, New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Plaquemines, meaning vessels must arrange immediate departure or seek alternate destinations. Cargo operations must cease.
Ports in Mississippi and Alabama, including Pascagoula, also began preparations, but remained open for commercial traffic on Tuesday. After landfall, the center of Francine is expected to move into Mississippi on Wednesday night or Thursday.
Energy pipeline operator Enbridge pulled employees from several U.S. Gulf of Mexico platforms. Its Manta Ray Gas Gathering system declared force majeure at its Green Canyon 158 Brutus receipt point and stopped receiving natural gas, the company told customers.
ExxonMobil, Shell and Chevron on Monday removed offshore staff and halted some Gulf of Mexico oil and gas operations.
New LNG export plants in Louisiana - Sempra's Cameron LNG, Venture Global LNG's Calcasieu Pass LNG and Tellurian's Driftwood LNG development - are in the crosshairs of Francine.
Natural gas flowing to the Cameron LNG export plant dropped on Tuesday to 1.3 Bft3d from about 2.2 Bft3d on Monday, LSEG data showed. Sempra did not reply to a request for comment.
Freeport LNG, which operates the nation's second-largest export plant for the super-chilled gas, said it had begun storm preparations at its Texas plant without providing details.
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