Tropical Storm Francine shifted eastward Tuesday, sparing the coastal corridor on the Louisiana and Texas borders where LNG export facilities are concentrated from a direct hit, but the strengthening system was impacting vessel traffic and offshore oil and gas production.
Major ports along the Gulf Coast were closed Tuesday, as leading producers evacuated nonessential personnel and shut-in production at deepwater platforms. The storm was initially forecast to hit Louisiana and the upper Texas coast before shifting, which would have threatened more liquefied natural gas output, but some plants were still making preparations on Tuesday.
Louisiana is now expected to take the brunt of the storm, which is forecast to make landfall as a Category 2 hurricane on Wednesday near Vermillion Bay, about 160 miles west of New Orleans. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) had a hurricane warning in effect on Tuesday that stretched from Sabine Pass, on the Texas-Louisiana border, to Grand Isle in Louisiana.
After making landfall in Louisiana, NHC said the center was expected to move into Mississippi late Wednesday into Thursday. The storm was expected to generate high winds, storm surge of up to 10 feet and rainfall up to 12 inches across parts of both states.
LNG Impacts
U.S. feed gas nominations were down 3% day/day on Tuesday to 12.9 Bcf/d, according to NGI data. The Sabine Pass and Calcasieu Pass terminals, both in Louisiana, showed negligible declines. However, nominations at Cameron LNG, also on Louisiana’s coast, were down by 12%.
“Cameron LNG has a phased approach to managing day-to-day operations when any tropical weather system enters the Gulf of Mexico,” spokesperson Anya McInnis told NGI. “We are closely monitoring the weather situation and will take the necessary actions to ensure the safety of personnel and plant operations.”
Francine was not expected to hit the Freeport export terminal on the upper Texas coast, which was knocked offline for about two weeks in July by former Hurricane Beryl. Freeport LNG spokesperson Heather Browne told NGI that personnel at the facility were still closely monitoring the storm and had begun storm preparations.
Meanwhile, inbound vessel traffic was closed Tuesday by the U.S. Coast Guard at the Texas ports in Beaumont, Port Arthur and Orange, as well as the Louisiana ports in Cameron and Lake Charles, which serves both the Cameron and Calcasieu Pass terminals.
Kpler vessel-tracking data showed that the Seapeak Vancouver had loaded at Cameron on Monday and was floating nearby Tuesday. No vessels were berthed at Calcasieu Pass or Freeport, while two were berthed at Sabine Pass.
Offshore Production Shuttered
Francine on Tuesday afternoon was moving through the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph. The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) said 130 offshore platforms in the GOM, or 35% in operation, had been evacuated.
As of Tuesday afternoon, 494 MMcf/d, or about 26% of GOM natural gas production had been shut-in. About 24%, or 412,070 b/d of oil had been shut-in too, according to BSEE.
Leading offshore producers were anticipating different impacts.
BP plc said its operations in the GOM weren’t likely to be affected. A Chevron Corp. spokesperson told NGI that production was shut-in at the Anchor and Tahiti platforms, about 190 miles south of New Orleans. All personnel were being evacuated.
Nonessential personnel were also being transported from Chevron’s Big Foot and Jack/St. Malo platforms, which are more than 200 miles south of New Orleans.
Chevron’s onshore facilities were following storm preparedness procedures, the company said.
Shell plc said it shuttered production at its Perdido platform 200 miles south of Galveston, TX, as well as at its Auger and Enchilada/Salsa projects south of New Orleans. Nonessential personnel were evacuated from the Auger and Enchilada/Salsa platforms too.
Drilling operations were paused at the Perdido and Whale platforms about 200 miles southwest of Houston. BSEE said Tuesday afternoon that two rigs, or 40% of those operating in the GOM, had been evacuated.
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Shell’s onshore manufacturing facilities in Louisiana were continuing to operate normally, but only employees preparing for the storm’s landfall or operating the facilities were expected to arrive Wednesday.
Elsewhere, Enbridge Inc. said it evacuated personnel from some offshore GOM assets. Enbridge’s offshore Manta Ray Gas Gathering System pipeline network also declared force majeure. The midstream company handles more than 40% of U.S. offshore natural gas production.
Further inland, residents were fleeing the storm's path with some communities in coastal Louisiana under mandatory evacuation orders.
Entergy Corp., Louisiana’s largest utility, said it had 1,770 restoration workers ready to restore service for impacted customers. The company said historical restoration times for Category 2 hurricanes can last up to 10 days.
As traders continued to track the storm’s potential impact, global gas prices were mixed Tuesday. The October Title Transfer Facility contract in Europe fell 5%, while the Japan-Korea Marker was stable amid a well-supplied global market. U.S. natural gas prices climbed amid lingering heat in some parts of the country.
