A quarter of US Gulf oil output remains shut on Hurricane Helene

HOUSTON (ICIS)–A quarter of US oil production in the Gulf of Mexico remains shut in as Helene becomes close to becoming a major hurricane.

The following table shows the disruptions to US Gulf production that were caused by Helene, according to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE).

	Total	% of US Gulf
Oil, bbl/day	441,923	25.25%
Gas, million cubic feet/day	363.39	19.81%

Source: BSEE

	Total	% of US Gulf
Platforms evacuated	27	7.28%
Rigs evacuated	1	20%

Source: BSEE

Hurricane Helene has maximum sustained wind speeds of nearly 110 miles/hour (175 km/hour), which is 1 mile/hour below becoming a major hurricane.

It is on track to make landfall in the Big Bend, a sparsely populated region of northwestern Florida.

The following map shows the forecasted path of Helene.

Source: National Hurricane Center

FLORIDA CHEMS AT RISK
Helene could threaten Panama City, Florida, where Kraton operates a crude sulphate turpentine refinery and a crude tall oil (CTO) refinery.

Tall oil is a feedstock for the production of fatty acids, renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

Helene’s path is too far east to threaten Pensacola, which is home to some nylon and thermoset resin plants.

Helene is moving on the opposite side of Texas and Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico. Those two states are home to most of the refineries, petrochemical plants and LNG capacity of the US. Operations at those plants will not be threatened by Helene.

Helene will not make landfall near Tampa Bay, an important hub for the US fertilizer industry. Tampa hosts corporate offices, trading, product storage, shipping and other logistical operations.

Nonetheless, Helene will disrupt operations at the port of Tampa Bay.

PORTS CLOSED TO TRAFFIC ALONG EASTERN GULF COAST
Inbound and outbound traffic has ceased among numerous ports along Florida’s Gulf Coast, including Port Tampa Bay, an important entrepot.

Tampa is in the region that could see a peak storm surge of 5-8 feet (1.5-2.4 meters), as shown in the following map.

Source: National Hurricane Center

The following table shows some of the other ports in Florida that are closed.

Panama City, Florida

Port St Joe, Florida

St Petersburg, Florida

Manatee, Florida

Source: US Coast Guard

The following ports are open with restrictions.

Pensacola, Florida

Mobile, Alabama

Source: US Coast Guard

RAIL DISRUPTIONS
Railroad company CSX plans to close its TRANSFLO terminals in Tampa and Tampa Port on Thursday.

Railroad company Norfolk Southern said that customers with shipments moving through the southeast and mid-Atlantic should prepare for delays.

RECONSTRUCTION AND CHEM DEMAND
Hurricane Helene’s current path could put $5.64 billion worth of housing at risk to storm surge flooding, an insurance data company said on Wednesday.

Nearly 25,000 residential properties in the Tallahassee and Homosassa Springs metropolitan areas are at risk, said CoreLogic.

“Helene has the potential to become a once-in-a-generation storm,” said Jon Porter, chief meteorologist for the meteorology firm AccuWeather. It estimates that most of Florida and much of the southeastern US will be exposed to winds reaching 40-60 miles/hour.

AccuWeather expects that most of Florida and all of the states of Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina are at risk for tornados.

For hurricanes in general, reconstruction can translate to increased demand for many chemicals and polymers.

The white pigment titanium dioxide (TiO2) is used in paints.

Solvents used in paints and coatings include butyl acetate (butac), butyl acrylate (butyl-A), ethyl acetate (etac), glycol ethers, methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) and isopropanol (IPA).

Blends of aliphatic and aromatic solvents are also used to make paints and coatings.

For polymers, expandable polystyrene (EPS) and polyurethane (PU) foam are used in insulation.

Polyurethanes are made of methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI), toluene diisocyanate (TDI) and polyols.

High density polyethylene (HDPE) is used in pipe. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is used to make cladding, window frames, wires and cables, flooring and roofing membranes.

Unsaturated polyester resins (UPR) are used to make coatings and composites.

Vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) is used to make paints and adhesives.

Thumbnail photo: Helene. (By the National Hurricane Center)

(adds missing world “Gulf” in headline)