Exxon Baytown Refinery Impacted as Houston Ship Channel Shutdown Stretches Into Day 3

By Harry R. Weber and Dan Murtaugh

(Bloomberg) — Exxon Mobil Corp. lower processing charges at its Baytown, Texas, refinery due to tanker delays alongside the Houston Ship Channel as a stretch of the biggest U.S. export gateway was shut for a 3rd day following a crash.

The firm was working with the Port of Houston and the U.S. Coast Guard to rearrange deliveries of crude, Deedra Moe, a spokeswoman for Exxon, mentioned Wednesday. Moe mentioned Exxon expects to fulfill its contractual commitments on the refinery, which has a capability of 560,500 barrels a day.

As of Wednesday afternoon, 83 vessels have been within the queue on the ship channel, 48 inbound and 35 outbound, in keeping with the Coast Guard. There’s no agency timeline for reopening the part. It might open later Wednesday or keep shut a number of days, Steven Nerheim, director of the Coast Guard’s Vessel Traffic Service for Houston-Galveston, mentioned by cellphone Tuesday.

The closed four-mile part of the channel between Light 86 and the Fred Hartman Bridge results in 5 refineries with 1.34 million barrels a day of capability and docks that may export 600,000 barrels a day of propane and different liquid petroleum gases. An prolonged shutdown might forestall tankers from delivering crude and power the crops to scale back manufacturing.

Enterprise Product Partners’ Oiltanking Partners unit suspended ship and barge-docking operations in Houston, in keeping with a discover to clients obtained Wednesday by Bloomberg. The firm declared a power majeure that retroactively applies to operations following the collision that closed the part of the channel.

Venezuela Tanker

The Carla Maersk, a forty five,000-deadweight-ton tanker, was heading out of the channel for Amuay Bay in Venezuela when it collided March 9 with the MV Conti Peridot, a 57,000-deadweight- ton bulk provider touring into the channel, in keeping with vessel monitoring knowledge compiled by Bloomberg.

The influence pierced the double-hulled Carla Maersk, which carried 216,000 barrels of gasoline additive MTBE. The vessel suffered a breach in two tanks every holding 15,000 barrels. An unknown quantity poured into the water earlier than the leak was stopped. The remaining untainted product has been transferred from the tanks, Coast Guard Capt. Brian Penoyer mentioned at a information convention Tuesday in La Porte, Texas.

The present plan is to insert foam into the 2 breached tanks to maintain vapors from any remaining MTBE from moving into the air, then insert a hose to take away any seawater and residual MTBE, Coast Guard spokesman Andy Kendrick mentioned by cellphone Wednesday. Once full and the realm is deemed protected, the closed part of the channel will likely be reopened.

Conti Peridot

Part of the anchor from the Conti Peridot is believed to be on the backside of the channel and should should be eliminated for visitors to proceed, Niels Aalund, a vp for the West Gulf Maritime Association, a commerce group that represents vessel homeowners and terminal operators, mentioned Wednesday. The channel might open in 24 to 36 hours if climate is favorable and cleanup operations go easily, he mentioned.

MTBE, or methyl tertiary butyl ether, is an oxygenate added to gasoline to spice up octane ranges and to assist gasoline burn cleaner. While it’s been changed by ethanol within the U.S. after it contaminated consuming water, different international locations nonetheless use it. Its offensive odor and style can render water undrinkable, whereas its well being results are unclear. U.S. manufacturing is shipped overseas, with Venezuela receiving the second-most in December, behind Mexico.

The Coast Guard and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.

–With help from Eliot Caroom and Sheela Tobben in New York.