Largest Texas Ports Shut Down as Hurricane Beryl Approaches – Reuters

By Arathy Somasekhar, Marianna Parraga, and Erwin Seba

HOUSTON (Reuters) – The largest ports in Texas suspended operations and vessel traffic on Sunday as Hurricane Beryl intensified while approaching the Texas coast near Houston.

Beryl, which caused significant damage in the Caribbean earlier this week and resulted in at least 11 fatalities, has now reached category 1 status and is expected to strengthen to category 2 upon landfall on Monday, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC).

Ports including Corpus Christi, Houston, Galveston, Freeport, and Texas City announced closures after the Coast Guard set condition "Zulu" on Sunday. All vessel movement and cargo operations have been restricted due to the anticipated gale force winds expected within 12 hours.

Corpus Christi, located about 200 miles from Houston, is the leading export hub in the United States. Texas City and Freeport also serve as significant shipping centers for oil and refined products on the Gulf Coast.

The closure of these ports could lead to a temporary suspension of crude oil exports, shipments to refineries, and deliveries of motor fuels from those plants.

The Houston ship channel, which spans 52 miles and had originally operated under transit restrictions before halting all traffic, provides access to eight public facilities and approximately 200 private terminals.

In the NHC’s late Sunday advisory, reports from an Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft revealed that Beryl’s maximum sustained winds have increased to about 75 mph. Further intensification is anticipated before the storm makes landfall on the Texas coast.

On Sunday evening, nearly 14,000 customers in Texas were reported to be without electricity. Power provider CenterPoint Energy announced that it was monitoring the storm and preparing for its impacts.

Acting Texas Governor Dan Patrick urged vacationers in coastal areas to evacuate before the storm’s arrival, emphasizing the seriousness of the situation and the need for preparedness.

Preparedness Efforts

Energy infrastructure company Kinder Morgan announced on Sunday that it had shut down its West Clear Lake and Dayton storage facilities, as well as its Texas City natural gas processing facility in anticipation of the storm. The company expects minimal disruption to its pipeline operations, while other facilities in the storm’s path remain operational.

Some energy facilities in Texas had to halt or reduce operations due to winds associated with Beryl. Freeport LNG proactively shut down its liquefaction trains and pre-treatment facility due to the storm’s impacts but aimed to restart operations efficiently to minimize flaring.

Additionally, Cheniere Energy stated that its Corpus Christi facility continued to operate without interruptions, although all nonessential personnel were sent home. The company indicated that its Gulf Coast assets have strong and proven severe-weather preparedness.

Chemours Co, which has a facility near Corpus Christi, is enhancing its hurricane preparedness initiatives, ensuring safe staffing during and after the storm, and securing equipment and assets as a precaution.

Enbridge Inc, which manages major crude export facilities near Corpus Christi, confirmed that all of its Gulf Coast assets are operational and that emergency plans have been activated.

Gibson Energy, which also has an export facility in the region, reported that all employees in the area are safe, and facilities and docks were secured following the closure of the Corpus Christi port.

Citgo Petroleum Corp has begun scaling back production at its 165,000 barrel-per-day Corpus Christi refinery, intending to keep the plant operational at minimum capacity during the storm.

Additionally, several oil producers, including Shell and Chevron, have temporarily shut in production or evacuated personnel from their Gulf of Mexico offshore platforms in response to the hurricane.