Epoxy
September 8, 2021
IDA Update
US Gulf oil, natgas output begins to recover after Ida
Author: Janet Miranda
2021/09/07
HOUSTON (ICIS)–More than a week after Hurricane Ida made landfall, 79% of offshore oil production and nearly 78% of natural gas production in the US Gulf remains offline, according to the US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE).
The percentage of shut in production has been reduced by 14 and 11 percentage points for offshore oil and natural gas respectively from 3 September, when 93% of oil production and 89% of natural gas production was offline in the US Gulf.
The following table shows the number of platforms and rigs evacuated, including the total of oil and natural gas that has been shut in.
| Total | % | |
| Platforms evacuated | 79 | 14.11 |
| Rigs evacuated | 4 | 36.36 |
| Oil shut in (bbl/day) | 1,443,800 | 79.33 |
| Gas shut in (bcf/day) | 1.736 | 77.89 |
Source: BSEE
Key ports such as Port Fourchon in Louisiana were damaged by Ida. The port is a main site for offshore workers.
As of 4 September, the US Coast Guard is allowing conditional access to Port Fourchon waterways, including Belle Pass with restrictions for daylight operations only.
Currently, vessels in ports can manoeuvre in port waterways. Navigation through the main channel is down to one lane only.
The port will be fully reopened when channel surveys have been completed and obstructions from debris have been removed.
Shell said on Tuesday that it is beginning to deploy employees to its Auger and Enchilada/Salsa assets.
Its Perdido asset in the southwestern Gulf was never disrupted and continues to be online, along with its storage and offloading vessel, the Turritella.
At its West Delta 143 offshore facility, damage assessments continue, Shell said.
Shell has also re-staffed its Pipeline’s Ship Shoal 28 asset and are now working to finalise assessment of the platform and pipelines. A stand-up test will be conducted prior to restart of the pipeline.
Platform start up will remain dependent on the availability of downstream infrastructure including pipelines and delivery locations, the company said.
BP has conducted a visual assessment of its four Gulf of Mexico platforms, and reported no major damage, the company said on Thursday.
Production will remain shut in until further confirmation that it is safe for operations to resume.
Its onshore assets at Houma and Port Fourchon experienced the brunt of the storm’s force with damage to both facilities that will require repairs. BP will temporarily relocate its shore base and heliport to other locations.
BP’s midstream and downstream assets are in various stages of start-up and await facility inspections and power restoration.
Chevron has begun to deploy personnel to provide closer assessments of possible damage to any of its assets, the company said on Wednesday.
Fourchon terminal and Empire terminal and their related pipeline systems remain shut in, Chevron said.
PLANT STATUS
The following shows the status of the chemical plants and refineries affected by Ida.
| Company | Site | Products | Status | Force Majeure |
| AmSty | St James, Louisiana | Styrene | Shutdown | |
| BASF | Geismar, Louisiana | BDO, EO, isocyanates, polyols | Shutdown | |
| Cornerstone | Waggaman, Louisiana | ACN, melamine | Shutdown | Declares FM |
| Cos-Mar | Carville, Louisiana | Styrene, ethylbenzene | Shutdown | |
| DAK Americas | Bay St Louis, Mississippi | PET | Shutdown | Declares FM |
| Dow | Plaquemine, Louisiana | Ethylene, propylene, benzene, toluene, EO, glycol ethers, PE, PG, PO | Expected Restart | |
| Dow | Taft, Louisiana | Ethylene, propylene, acetic acid, acrylic acid, acrylic acid esters, ethanolamines, EO, glycol ethers, LLDPE, oxo-alcohols | Shutdown | |
| Dow | Taft, Louisiana | 2-EHA | Shutdown | Declares FM |
| Enterprise Products | Louisiana, US | Propylene, NGLs | Shutdown | |
| ExxonMobil | Baton Rouge, Louisiana | Ethylene, propylene, BD, benzene, toluene, IPA, PA, plasticizers, PE, PP, base oils | Restart | |
| Formosa Plastics | Baton Rouge, Louisiana | PVC, VCM | Shutdown | |
| INEOS Oxide | Plaquemine, Louisiana | Ethanolamines | Shutdown | Declares FM |
| Lion Copolymer | Geismar, Louisiana | EDPM | Restart | |
| Marathon Petroleum | Garyville, Louisiana | Gasoline, propylene, refined products | Shutdown | |
| Methanex | Geismar, Louisiana | Methanol | Shutdown | |
| NOVA | Geismar, Louisiana | Ethylene, propylene | Shutdown | Declares FM |
| Olin | Freeport, Texas | VCM | Shutdown | Declares FM |
| Olin | Plaquemine, Louisiana | Caustic soda, chlorine | Shutdown | |
| Olin | St Gabriel, Louisiana | Caustic soda, chlorine | Shutdown | |
| OxyChem | Convent, Louisiana | Caustic soda, chlorine | Shutdown | Declares FM |
| OxyChem | Geismar, Louisiana | Caustic soda, chlorine, EDC | Shutdown | Declares FM |
| OxyChem | Taft, Louisiana | Caustic soda, chlorine | Shutdown | Declares FM |
| PBF Energy | Chalmette, Louisiana | Benzene, toluene, MX, propylene | Shutdown | |
| Phillips 66 | Belle Chasse, Louisiana | Benzene, toluene, MX, propylene | Shutdown | |
| Pinnacle Polymers | Garyville, Louisiana | PP | Shutdown | Declares FM |
| Roehm | Fortier, Louisiana | Methyl methacrylate (MMA) | Shutdown | |
| Rubicon | Geismar, Louisiana | MDI, polyether polyols, aniline, nitrobenzene | Shutdown | |
| Shell | Geismar, Louisiana | EO, EG, glycol ethers, linear alcohols, linear olefins | Shutdown | |
| Shell | Norco, Louisiana | Ethylene, propylene, BD | Shutdown | |
| Shintech | Addis, Louisiana | PVC | Shutdown | |
| Shintech | Freeport, Texas | PVC | Shutdown | |
| Shintech | Plaquemine, Louisiana | Caustic soda, chlorine, EDC, PVC, VCM, ethylene | Shutdown | |
| Total Energies | Carville, Louisiana | PS | Shutdown | |
| Valero | Meraux, Louisiana | Gasoline, refined products, propylene | Shutdown | |
| Valero | St Charles, Louisiana | Gasoline, refined products, propylene | Shutdown | |
| Westlake | Geismar, Louisiana | Caustic soda, chlorine, EDC | Shutdown | Declares FM |
| Westlake | Plaquemine, Louisiana | Caustic soda, chlorine, EDC, PVC, VCM | Shutdown | Declares FM |
| YCI Methanol One | St James, Louisiana | Methanol | Shutdown |
POWER RESTORATION
Power has been restored to 60% of the 948,000 customers who lost service after Hurricane Ida made landfall on 29 August, regional power distributor Entergy said on Tuesday.
Of the 226 affected transmission substations, 188 have returned to service as of the afternoon of 6 September, as well as 151 of 211 affected transmission lines.
About 700 miles of transmission lines remain out of service, Entergy said.
Distribution system damage in Louisiana and Mississippi included 30,679 poles, 36,469 spans of wire and 5,959 transformers damaged or destroyed.
The number of poles damaged or destroyed is more than hurricanes Katrina, Ike, Delta and Zeta combined.
MISSISSIPPI RIVER, PORTS OPEN
The US Coast Guard open the lower Mississippi river to all vessel traffic in New Orleans and key ports throughout southeast Louisiana late on Friday.
The opening required the removal of several downed power lines that were obstructing the waterway.
The Coast Guard continues to work with its partners to reconstitute ports and waterways throughout Southeast Louisiana to pre-storm capacity in Port Fourchon, Bayou Lafourche, Houma Navigation Canal, and key points along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway.
The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP) has resumed receipt and delivery of crude to regional refineries.
The Loop is the nation’s only deepwater oil port for supertankers. Some 50% of the nation’s refining capacity can be supplied by LOOP, which moves 12% of the nation’s annual crude oil imports.
RAIL UPDATE
Norfolk Southern reopened its NS New Orleans intermodal facility on Monday, the rail company announced. The embargo at its Croxton and Erail facility have been lifted.
Ingates for local and interline shipments originating at or destined to its Erail facility have reopened. Local ingates originated or destined to its Croxton facility remained closed.
Outgates in its northeast facilities are currently open. Some rail lines in the north region of New Jersey have been impacted by slow orders and signal delays. Customers in the Northeast should expect 24-48 hour delays.
Union Pacific (UP) has resumed operations from St James to New Orleans, although generators remain in place for signal and gate operations until commercial power is restored, the rail company said on Friday.
Interchange with Norfolk Southern resumed on Thursday, although it was limited to daylight hours only due to the city-mandated curfew. Interchange with all other carriers in New Orleans remained embargoed.
CSX has also seen the impacts of the storm in the northeast, with disruptions in operations in portions Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. Customers are advised to expect delays, it said on Thursday.
It is also continuing repair work on track and signals on the New Orleans and Mobile line.
BNSF has reopened nearly all of its main line between Lafayette, Louisiana, and New Orleans, the US railroad company said on Wednesday.
On Thursday, Kansas City Southern (KCS) announced it had resumed operations on the New Orleans subdivision.
September 8, 2021
Huntsman IDA Update
Huntsman Announces Update on the Hurricane Ida Impact to its Operations
Download as PDF September 07, 2021 7:30pm EDT
THE WOODLANDS, Texas, Sept. 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Huntsman Corporation (NYSE: HUN) today disclosed that Hurricane Ida caused no significant damage to its Geismar, Louisiana manufacturing facility. The Geismar facility manufactures products for Huntsman’s Polyurethanes and Performance Products divisions and all units were shutdown orderly and safely before Hurricane Ida made landfall. Site personnel are currently preparing the production units for restart. The precise timing of the restart of each unit is dependent on the availability of utilities and the ability of other third-party suppliers to restart their respective operations. Currently, the Company’s best estimate is that production comes back online slowly this coming weekend with an increase in rates next week. Under this timeline, the Company currently anticipates that the estimated impact from Hurricane Ida to third quarter 2021 EBITDA will be offset by strength in the broader Performance Products division and the European and Asian MDI markets.
About Huntsman:
Huntsman Corporation is a publicly traded global manufacturer and marketer of differentiated and specialty chemicals with 2020 revenues of approximately $6 billion. Our chemical products number in the thousands and are sold worldwide to manufacturers serving a broad and diverse range of consumer and industrial end markets. We operate more than 70 manufacturing, R&D and operations facilities in approximately 30 countries and employ approximately 9,000 associates within our four distinct business divisions. For more information about Huntsman, please visit the company’s website at www.huntsman.com.
September 8, 2021
Huntsman IDA Update
Huntsman Announces Update on the Hurricane Ida Impact to its Operations
Download as PDF September 07, 2021 7:30pm EDT
THE WOODLANDS, Texas, Sept. 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Huntsman Corporation (NYSE: HUN) today disclosed that Hurricane Ida caused no significant damage to its Geismar, Louisiana manufacturing facility. The Geismar facility manufactures products for Huntsman’s Polyurethanes and Performance Products divisions and all units were shutdown orderly and safely before Hurricane Ida made landfall. Site personnel are currently preparing the production units for restart. The precise timing of the restart of each unit is dependent on the availability of utilities and the ability of other third-party suppliers to restart their respective operations. Currently, the Company’s best estimate is that production comes back online slowly this coming weekend with an increase in rates next week. Under this timeline, the Company currently anticipates that the estimated impact from Hurricane Ida to third quarter 2021 EBITDA will be offset by strength in the broader Performance Products division and the European and Asian MDI markets.
About Huntsman:
Huntsman Corporation is a publicly traded global manufacturer and marketer of differentiated and specialty chemicals with 2020 revenues of approximately $6 billion. Our chemical products number in the thousands and are sold worldwide to manufacturers serving a broad and diverse range of consumer and industrial end markets. We operate more than 70 manufacturing, R&D and operations facilities in approximately 30 countries and employ approximately 9,000 associates within our four distinct business divisions. For more information about Huntsman, please visit the company’s website at www.huntsman.com.
September 7, 2021
Port Logjams to Continue
Top US Port Head Warns Shipping Logjams To Continue Through “Summer 2022”
by Tyler DurdenTuesday, Sep 07, 2021 – 10:50 AM
Containerized shipping has become the ugly story of the chaotic supply chain facing U.S. importers and Chinese exporters. Hopes are quickly fading that trans-pacific supply chains will normalize this year or even in 2022.
According to the Wall Street Journal’s Paul Berger, who spoke with industry experts, trans-pacific supply chains will remain swamped through at least the summer of 2022.
Port leaders, such as Mario Cordero, executive director at the Port of Long Beach, California, warned:
“I don’t see substantial mitigation with regard to the congestion that the major container ports are experiencing,” Cordero said. “Many people believe it’s going to continue through the summer of 2022.”
The latest data from Marine Exchange of Southern California & Vessel Traffic Service of Los Angeles and Long Beach ports shows container ship congestion is worsening. This comes as U.S. importers are ordering products from Asia ahead of the holiday season.
In three recent notes, “Vessel Congestion At LA Ports Soars As More Ships Join Queue” and “U.S. West Coast Port Congestion At Record High Amid Transpacific Trade Route Disruptions” and “California Congestion Nears New High, East Coast Gridlock Worsens,” we highlight the latest build-up of vessels, now reaches new heights.
Figures from last week showed 44 container ships were moored at a berth space outside Los Angeles and Long Beach ports, surpassing the record of 40 set in early February. Average wait times are on the rise, from 6.2 in mid-August to 7.6 days earlier this month.
Data from the Global Port Tracker report produced by Hackett Associates for the National Retail Federation showed that U.S. ports handled 2.37 million imported containers in August, the most on record, dating back to 2002 when records began.
The National Retail Federation expects 25.9 million containers will enter the U.S. in 2021, surpassing 2020’s record-setting 22 million.
And it’s not just bottlenecks at ports that are disrupting the global supply chain, Bob Biesterfield, chief executive of C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc., one of the largest freight brokers in the U.S., warned of a labor shortage of port workers, truck drivers, and warehouse workers that are adding to shipping delays.
Biesterfield believes that global supply chain issues aren’t going to be “fixed in the next four to five months in accordance with the Lunar New Year.”
There’s also a global shipping container shortage that Goldman Sachs continues to warn about which has pressured shipping costs higher.
Sam Ruda, port director at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, warned that congestion at U.S. ports might end when the pandemic diminishes. However, Dr. Anthony Fauci and peers at the FDA and CDC (most notably CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky) have recently warned about a new mu variant which may indicate that virus continues to evolve.
It appears ocean freight won’t normalize anytime soon – maybe not until the end of 2022.
But-but-but supply chains disruptions pushing inflation higher were only supposed to be “transitory” – the Federal Reserve continues to lose whatever credibility it has left.
September 7, 2021
Port Logjams to Continue
Top US Port Head Warns Shipping Logjams To Continue Through “Summer 2022”
by Tyler DurdenTuesday, Sep 07, 2021 – 10:50 AM
Containerized shipping has become the ugly story of the chaotic supply chain facing U.S. importers and Chinese exporters. Hopes are quickly fading that trans-pacific supply chains will normalize this year or even in 2022.
According to the Wall Street Journal’s Paul Berger, who spoke with industry experts, trans-pacific supply chains will remain swamped through at least the summer of 2022.
Port leaders, such as Mario Cordero, executive director at the Port of Long Beach, California, warned:
“I don’t see substantial mitigation with regard to the congestion that the major container ports are experiencing,” Cordero said. “Many people believe it’s going to continue through the summer of 2022.”
The latest data from Marine Exchange of Southern California & Vessel Traffic Service of Los Angeles and Long Beach ports shows container ship congestion is worsening. This comes as U.S. importers are ordering products from Asia ahead of the holiday season.
In three recent notes, “Vessel Congestion At LA Ports Soars As More Ships Join Queue” and “U.S. West Coast Port Congestion At Record High Amid Transpacific Trade Route Disruptions” and “California Congestion Nears New High, East Coast Gridlock Worsens,” we highlight the latest build-up of vessels, now reaches new heights.
Figures from last week showed 44 container ships were moored at a berth space outside Los Angeles and Long Beach ports, surpassing the record of 40 set in early February. Average wait times are on the rise, from 6.2 in mid-August to 7.6 days earlier this month.
Data from the Global Port Tracker report produced by Hackett Associates for the National Retail Federation showed that U.S. ports handled 2.37 million imported containers in August, the most on record, dating back to 2002 when records began.
The National Retail Federation expects 25.9 million containers will enter the U.S. in 2021, surpassing 2020’s record-setting 22 million.
And it’s not just bottlenecks at ports that are disrupting the global supply chain, Bob Biesterfield, chief executive of C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc., one of the largest freight brokers in the U.S., warned of a labor shortage of port workers, truck drivers, and warehouse workers that are adding to shipping delays.
Biesterfield believes that global supply chain issues aren’t going to be “fixed in the next four to five months in accordance with the Lunar New Year.”
There’s also a global shipping container shortage that Goldman Sachs continues to warn about which has pressured shipping costs higher.
Sam Ruda, port director at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, warned that congestion at U.S. ports might end when the pandemic diminishes. However, Dr. Anthony Fauci and peers at the FDA and CDC (most notably CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky) have recently warned about a new mu variant which may indicate that virus continues to evolve.
It appears ocean freight won’t normalize anytime soon – maybe not until the end of 2022.
But-but-but supply chains disruptions pushing inflation higher were only supposed to be “transitory” – the Federal Reserve continues to lose whatever credibility it has left.
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