Oil Refineries Update

123jump.com Staff
30 Nov, -0001
New York City

This afternoon IEA said that it will release 2 million barrels a day for the next thirty days to the world market. This only underscores the fact that there are no extra production capacities available to pump oil and only 'global reserves of nations' can save the current crisis. The damage to the Gulf of Mexico infrastructure will not be restored for weeks as stated by oil companies operating in the region.

Marathon Oil Corporation

The company has begun damage assessments of all facilities in areas affected by hurricane Katrina, and the Company is providing assistance to employees and neighboring communities impacted by the storm.

Activities are focused on the Company's Garyville, Louisiana, refinery, which has 245,000 barrels per day of crude oil processing capacity, as well as the Marathon-operated offshore oil and gas production platforms at South Pass (located 100 miles south of New Orleans) and Ewing Bank (located 130 miles south of New Orleans).

Gross production from these facilities of approximately 18,500 barrels of oil per day (bpd) and 25 million cubic feet of natural gas per day (mmcfd), remains shut-in as a result of the storm.

Marathon's total net production from these operated facilities, as well as other non-operated properties, is approximately 43,000 bpd and 110 mmcfd and this production remains shut-in as a result of the hurricane.

Murphy Oil Corporation

The company announced today based on preliminary inspections, only minimal damage has been sustained as a result of Hurricane Katrina to the Company’s operated producing facilities at Front Runner (37.5%) and Medusa (60%) in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Front Runner field is located in 3,500 feet of water on Green Canyon Blocks 338 and 339, approximately 135 miles south-southeast of Houma, Louisiana. The Medusa facility is located in 2,200 feet of water on Mississippi Canyon Blocks 538 and 582 approximately 70 miles south of New Orleans.

No assessment has been made regarding pipelines nor can any estimated timeline be given at this time for restarting either facility or any of our other offshore Louisiana production. Some flooding occurred at the Company’s 125,000 barrel a day refinery in Meraux, Louisiana.

While repair to part of the plant’s electrical equipment and instrumentation, as well as a general cleanup of the facility, will be necessary, the refinery appears to have sustained no major damage from the storm. However, no estimate can be provided regarding timing of start-up.

The Convent Refinery is located 30 miles southeast of Baton Rouge, Louisiana near Interstate 10. The majority of the refinery’s 4000 acres are within St. James Parish on the Mississippi River. Just 750 acres have processing equipment on them and the balance of the property is maintained as a farmed greenbelt around the facility.

The Norco Refining Company is located next to the Mississippi River, about 20 miles west of New Orleans, Louisiana. The refinery has a capacity of 240,000 barrels per day. Norco is actually an acronym for New Orleans Refining Company.



ConocoPhillips

Several ConocoPhillips facilities were impacted by hurricane Katrina:
Alliance refinery remains shut down and access is limited due to flooding in the area. Most of offshore production remains shut in, however we are moving employees back to the platforms to begin assessing the situation.

In addition, many of employees have been affected by the devastation left by hurricane Katrina and the resultant flooding in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.


Chevron

Chevron today announced that it safely evacuated all of its offshore employees and contractors from facilities in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico prior to the approach of hurricane Katrina. Chevron continues to produce some oil and natural gas in the Western Gulf of Mexico region. Chevron’s New Orleans office is temporarily closed and employees and contractors who work there were advised to follow evacuation recommendations made by government agencies where they reside.

As precautionary measures, the company’s Pascagoula, Miss. refinery and its Oronite chemical plant in Belle Chasse, La. were both shut down and all personnel were evacuated prior to Katrina making landfall.

Chevron Pipe Line Company safely shut down pipeline facilities and evacuated employees on the Louisiana Gulf Coast ahead of Hurricane Katrina. As of noon Central Time today employees were able to start returning to facilities in the Lafayette, La. area.


Valero

Bill Greehey, CEO, said the St. Charles Refinery suffered no significant structural damage. Up to 3 feet of water had collected in parts of the plant, he said, but by Wednesday the levels were down to 12-18 inches. Krotz Springs, meanwhile, was unharmed by Katrina but was forced to run at minimum rates due to pipeline problems.

Asphalt terminals in Mobile, Alabama and St. James Parish, Louisiana were down due to power loss, but not significantly damaged. The Mobile terminal also experienced flooding.

The St. Charles refinery sits on nearly 1,000 acres adjacent to the Mississippi River. This location, approximately 15 miles from New Orleans, is situated along key feedstock and product transportation corridors. The refinery has access to the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP) where it can receive crude oil via a 24-inch pipeline or over five marine docks along the Mississippi River.The refinery has had $2 billion in upgrades since 1985.

Total feedstock throughput capacity at this refinery of 260,000 barrels per day (BPD) products include gasoline, diesel and heating oil and employs approximately 550 individuals.

The 85,000 barrles per day, The Krotz Springs refinery is located approximately halfway between Baton Rouge and Lafayette, Louisiana, on the Atchafalaya River. It is positioned on the Colonial pipeline for convenient product transportation to markets in the Southeast and Northeast. The refinery can ship products by barge, pipeline, truck and rail.

Shell

Refineries

Motiva's Convent Refinery continues repairs and could initiate a restart in about a week. Motiva's Norco Refinery is still assessing damage. There is power at the nearby substation, but not at the plant. Access to the Norco facility is limited, but improving. No start-up date is projected for the Norco refinery.


Pipelines

The Shell-operated Capline pipeline system resumed operations Wednesday afternoon and is currently operating at around 75 percent capacity. Capline will resume service at full capacity once electric utility services are restored at pump stations located in Mississippi.

Shell Pipeline’s four refined product pipeline systems in Louisiana remain down due to refinery outages. These systems were not damaged as a result of Hurricane Katrina and will re-start once refinery production resumes.

Selected western and central corridor pipeline systems connected to Gulf of Mexico offshore production, and operated by Shell Pipeline, have resumed operation. Shell Pipeline is continuing assessment and repair work to bring the remaining systems online.


Refining & Marketing Capacity in Louisiana State

AS reported by the U.S. Energy Department

Refineries: Distillation capacity of 2,772,723 Barrels Per Calendar Day (BCD) (2005)

*Calcasieu Refining Co. (Lake Charles @ 30,000 BCD)
*Calumet Lubricants Co. LP (Cotton Valley @ 13,020 BCD)
*Calumet Lubricants Co. LP (Princeton @ 8,300 BCD)
*Calumet Shreveport. LLC (Shreveport @ 35,000 BCD)
*Chalmette Refining LLC (Chalmette @ 187,200 BCD)
*Citgo Petroleum Corp. (Lake Charles @ 324,300 BCD)
*ConocoPhillips (Belle Chasse @ 247,000 BCD)
*ConocoPhillips (Westlake @ 239,400 BCD)
*ExxonMobil Refining & Supply Co. (Baton Rouge @ 493,500 BCD)
*Marathon Ashland Petroleum LLC (Garyville @ 245,000 BCD)
*Motiva Enterprises LLC (Convent @ 235,000 BCD)
*Motiva Enterprises LLC (Norco @ 226,500)
*Murphy Oil U.S.A. Inc. (Meraux @ 120,000 BCD)
*Placid Refining Co. (Port Allen @ 48,500 BCD)
*Shell Chem LP (Saint Rose @ 55,000 BCD)
*Valero Refining Co. Louisiana (Krotz Springs @ 80,000 BCD)
*Valero Saint Charles Refinery (Norco @ 185,003 BCD)