Energy Transfer LP (ET)

[roger wilco]

Gulf Coast energy firms brace for 'catastrophic' Hurricane Laura

Aug. 26, 2020 10:58 AM ET|About: Phillips 66 (PSX)|By: Carl Surran, SA News Editor

Hurricane Laura, currently a Category 3 storm with 115 MPH winds, is forecast to grow today to a "catastrophic" Category 4 storm and unleash a storm surge as high as 15 ft., causing life-threatening flooding as it strikes the area of the Texas-Louisiana border which includes the port of Beaumont, Tex., and Lake Charles. La.

Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) is shutting a number of facilities including its Beaumont terminal in Nederland, Tex., by midday today.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) says it is shutting its 100K bbl/day Pasadena, Tex., refinery in anticipation of potential weather impacts.

Cheniere Energy (NYSEMKT:LNG) declares force majeure on its 94-mile Creole Trail pipeline and will cease flows until further notice due to the incoming storm.

But Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD) plans to continue operations at its Mont Belvieu natural gas liquids fractionation complex after Laura's track shifted farther east.

The extent of Laura’s impact on oil refining "will evolve in the coming weeks, with risk of higher or extended outages" from flooding and logistical impairments rather than storm damage to facilities, according to Morgan Stanley analysts.

WTI crude oil (CL1:COM) holds near five-month highs, +0.7% at $43.67/bbl.