By Arashi Somashekhar
HOUSTON (Reuters) – Ports along the Texas coast began closing or restricting shipping traffic on Sunday in preparation for Tropical Storm Beryl, which is expected to strengthen back into a Category 1 hurricane before hitting the region late in the evening.
The storm, which once strengthened to a Category 5 hurricane, left a trail of devastation across the Caribbean, ravaging Jamaica, Grenada, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and dumping torrential rains on northern Venezuela.
The Port of Corpus Christi was closed Sunday after the Coast Guard issued a “Zulu” warning, limiting all vessel movements and cargo operations due to a storm expected within 12 hours.
Corpus Christi, about 200 miles (322 km) from Houston, is the largest export hub in the U.S. A port closure could temporarily disrupt crude oil exports, crude oil shipments to refineries, and automotive fuels for those plants.
Meanwhile, the ports of Houston, Galveston, Freeport and Texas City were on “Yankee” alert, with all incoming vessel traffic suspended as storms were expected within 24 hours.
Chemours, a chemical manufacturer with a manufacturing facility near Corpus Christi, said Sunday it was integrating its hurricane preparedness plan, including drills and exercises, to ensure the safety of its facilities.
“We continue to closely monitor Beryl’s trajectory and have expanded our hurricane preparedness plans to include safely and appropriately deploying personnel during and after the storm, as well as securing equipment and assets should the storm make landfall near our locations,” the company said in an emailed statement.
Freeport LNG said it plans to maintain normal operations at its liquefaction facilities and will initiate weather emergency response plans if necessary.
Enbridge (NYSE:) and Gibson Energy (TSX:), which operate large crude oil export facilities near Corpus Christi, did not immediately respond to requests for comment Sunday. They said they were operating Friday and Saturday, respectively.
Citgo Petroleum Corp. will cut production at its 165,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Corpus Christi, Texas, on Saturday, people familiar with the matter said.
Citgo plans to run its refineries at reduced capacity Sunday as Beryl passes east of Corpus Christi, the sources added.
Some oil producers, including Shell (LON:) Chevron (NYSE:) also evacuated workers from offshore production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico ahead of the storm.
