Battered by coronavirus, US oil now braces for Hurricane Laurahttps://www.aljazeera.com/ajimpact/battered-coronavirus-oil-braces-hurricane-laura-200825194241950.htmlOil producers on Tuesday had evacuated 310 offshore facilities and shut 1.56 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude output, 84 percent of Gulf of Mexico's offshore production, near the 90 percent outage that Katrina brought 15 years ago.
Refiners that produce petrol and diesel fuel were taking steps to halt eight coastal facilities with nearly 2.78 million bpd of processing, 14.6 percent of the US total capacity, according to Reuters News Agency tallies.
Cheniere Energy Inc, the largest US exporter of liquefied natural gas, evacuated staff and suspended operations at its Sabine Pass LNG export terminal on the Texas/Louisiana border.
Motiva Enterprises, Total SA and Valero Energy began cutting operations at their Port Arthur, Texas, refineries, according to people familiar with the matter.
Total, Motiva and Valero confirmed the shutdowns, and a Valero spokeswoman said it also was reviewing the risks to its Texas City, plant southeast of Houston.
Citgo Petroleum said it has begun to halt processing at its 418,000-bpd refinery in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
Exxon Mobil Corp also began shutting production at its large Beaumont, Texas, refinery and reduced output at its Baytown, Texas, plant in advance of a possible shutdown.
If the Baytown plant fully halts processing, total shutdowns along the coast would hit 2.78 million bpd.