Ike’s supply toll rises as more closures reported

HOUSTON — Assessments of Hurricane Ike’s blow to US oil supply climbed as new closure reports reached government agencies.

The center of the wide storm made landfall near Galveston, Tex., in the early morning of Sept. 13, knocking out electrical power in most of Houston and many surrounding communities. Damage was widespread from a combination of unusually strong storm surge, a very large wind field, and windspeeds just below Category 3 hurricane status.


The Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability added two refineries to the closure list it issued before the hurricane came ashore (OGJ Online, Sept. 12, 2008).

On Sept. 14, it confirmed 15 refinery closures representing 3.86 million b/d of capacity, about 22% of the US total reported in the 2008 Oil & Gas Journal Worldwide Refining Report.

The DOE office reported one refinery down in the Lake Charles region with capacity of 78,000 b/d; four in the Port Arthur area with combined capacities of 1.155 million b/d; nine in the Houston/Galvestion region with capacities of 2.34 million b/d; and one in Corpus Christi with 288,000 b/d.

Oil and Gas Journal