U.S. Coast Guard says hurricane may shut oil ports

By Erwin Seba

HOUSTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Coast Guard warned of possible Texas port closures from Corpus Christi to Houston because of Hurricane Beryl, which is expected to make landfall by Monday morning south of Port Lavaca.

Port closures could bring to a temporary halt shipments of crude oil to refineries and motor fuels from those plants.

Shell (LON:) Plc completed the evacuation of workers from its Perdido production platform in the U.S.-regulated Gulf of Mexico ahead of the approach of Tropical Storm Beryl, the company said on Friday night.

Production on Perdido was shut prior to the evacuations. Shell said it also evacuated workers from the Whale platform, which is due to start 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 steps depending on the forecast.

The latest forecast would put Corpus Christi on the dry side of the storm where the lowest winds and least rain could be expected. But Beryl could still bring gale-force winds to the port, which is why the Coast Guard would shut it.

Most of the northern Gulf’s offshore oil and production is east of Beryl’s forecast track.

U.S. Gulf of Mexico offshore production of about 1.8 million barrels per day accounts for about 14% of total output, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Any impact on supplies could push up prices of U.S. oil and offshore crude grades.

Oil major Chevron Corp (NYSE:), among the biggest U.S. offshore producers, said on Friday that production from its operated assets remained at normal levels. It said it had evacuated nonessential personnel from some of its Gulf of Mexico facilities.