Hurricane Helene to Make Landfall Between Major Energy Infrastructure

As the Atlantic hurricane season churns out storms that regularly threaten the U.S. Gulf Coast, it can be easy to forget that the East Coast — an important refining center and refined-products market — is not immune from their impact. A dozen years ago this month, Superstorm Sandy roared ashore in New Jersey, wreaking havoc with storm surges and fierce winds that stretched for 1,000 miles. While the East Coast lacks the Gulf Coast’s concentration of energy infrastructure, it is home to the critical New York Harbor (NYH) market. In today’s RBN blog, we will examine how storms have affected the refining sector on the East Coast. 

Storms that form in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) during hurricane season don’t just dissipate once they make landfall and can inflict havoc on onshore assets. Storm damage and flooding can delay plant restarts, but so can power outages, as we saw when Hurricane Beryl hit the Texas/Louisiana region in July. And while there were no major refining or production assets in the path of Hurricane Helene, which slammed into the Florida Panhandle on September 26, widespread damage illustrated the potential risk to onshore infrastructure. In today’s RBN blog, we will examine how hurricanes have disrupted onshore assets and explain why power restoration is often the Achilles’ heel in plans to resume normal operations.