Several oil and gas operators across Louisiana have restored service to at least some of their assets after Hurricane Francine made landfall on Wednesday. But commercial power supply has not been fully restored to affected areas which means there are still services offline.
Shell said in a Friday update to shippers that it had made progress in restoring operations for its Zydeco crude pipeline system (see map below) after the storm. At this point, the 22-inch Port Neches, Texas, to Houma, Louisiana, section of Zydeco is back; the 24-inch Houma to Clovelly, Louisiana, and the Houma-to-St. James segments have resumed service but at reduced rates. The company expects commercial power to be restored to its Houma facility's #2 feed this weekend. When that happens, all Zydeco segments and the Houma dock will return to normal operations.
The Zydeco system enables oil from shale basins including the Permian to reach points east such as refineries in Louisiana. Blenders in the area also use that oil to produce Light Louisiana Sweet crude (LLS) that is sold domestically or exported. In addition, the Houma terminal is also the delivery point of Poseidon crude from offshore fields.
Meanwhile, Chevron has completed inspections on its Empire, Louisiana, oil terminal and is ready to resume its service. The facility is waiting for the restart of Shell Delta and Cypress pipelines which transport oil from offshore Gulf of Mexico fields and receipt points. Empire terminal is the delivery point for Heavy Louisiana Sweet crude.
Separately, in a storm update Thursday, Enterprise Products Partners said its assets in south Louisiana were without commercial power and it was deploying temporary generators where possible. The company was working with electric service providers to prioritize their restoration efforts.
The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) said in a update on Friday that 41.85% of crude output and 52.3% of gas production from the Gulf of Mexico was offline; that's the highest crude shut-ins for the week. On Tuesday, the day before Francine made landfall, the shut percentages stood at 24% and 26%, respectively.
