Genesis Energy has yet again extended maintenance for its Cameron Highway Oil Pipeline System (CHOPS - red line in map below). The outage is expected to last another four days.
CHOPS’s planned outage has seen a series of delays for reasons that included a lack of contractors and bad weather, prolonging downtime that was supposed to last two weeks. The original plan was to complete it in the first half of October. The shutdown eventually started on October 26. The latest work extension will see the turnaround ending around November 18.
Several storms have passed through the GOM since the Atlantic hurricane season began in June, prompting a few rounds of shut-ins of offshore oil and gas production and associated infrastructure; its also disrupted activity across the energy corridor on the U.S. Gulf Coast.
The 380-mile CHOPS connects GOM production to refineries and terminals in Port Arthur and Texas City, Texas. It has the capacity to transport 500-600 Mb/d of supplies. In Q3 2024, flows averaged just above 300 Mb/d, broadly unchanged from a year ago, according to a company SEC filing. Oil shipped on CHOPS is traded as Southern Green Canyon crude (SGC).
