Released December 15, 2020 | SUGAR LAND
en
Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--By anybody's reckoning, the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season was a doozy. With 30 named storms, of which 13 became hurricanes, the period has been ranked as the most active and seventh-most expensive hurricane season on record, tragically causing hundreds of fatalities and billions of dollars in damage across the Atlantic Basin. The unusually active season kept Industrial Info's research staff on high alert for the year.
During this period, Industrial Info's research staff worked to disclose the swath of plant and unit outages caused by the storms.
"Our research staff rose to the occasion to uncover the facts related to the impacts to plants and operations during this challenging time," said Paul Copello, president of IIR Energy (Sugar Land, Texas), a division of Industrial Info.
"As we all know, on top of COVID-19 playing havoc on petrochemical and other operations, we had a full parade of tropical systems making landfall in the Atlantic Basin this year. Our hands-on, educated, experienced and dedicated staff did what it took to get the supply-side answers for the market, not only with pre-storm outage forecasts, but live plant impact updates, and then, of course, the full follow-up story as facilities have struggled to get back on line to this day," Copello continued. "The dynamic world of supply-side upsets is never ending, but this year, we reached a milestone for real-time updates across the entire energy sector, including gas, power, refining, petrochemicals and more. IIR's boots-on-the ground research came through with the facts and the full story."
See list below of named storms this season.
Throughout it all, Industrial Info was providing its readers with the latest information on weather-related offline events for Oil & Gas Production platforms, Terminals, Refineries, Chemical Processing plants and Power facilities caused by the bombardment of storms.
Industrial Info also sent out storm-related weather impact update alerts, starting with Tropical Storm Cristobal on June 4, and ending with Hurricane Iota on November 16. Industrial Info was able to reveal the impact on each plant's operation and capacity, along with supply and production issues, for each facility, with continuous updates prior to, during and after each event.
The season officially began on June 1 and ended on November 30. But even before the season started, two tropical storms jumped the gun and formed in May.
Of the 30 named storms for the season, 12 made landfall in the U.S.
Hanna, the season's first hurricane, made landfall on July 25 along the lower Texas coast, packing 80-mile-per-hour winds but causing relatively little damage to industry infrastructure. For more information, see July 24, 2020, article - Tropical Storm Hanna to Hit Lower Texas Gulf Coast, Little Industry Impact Expected and July 25, 2020, article - Hanna Strengthens to Hurricane as it Churns Toward South Texas Coast.
See Disaster Impact Tracker map below of Hurricane Hanna's path.
And then came Laura and Marco
The first really disruptive hurricane of the season to impact the U.S. Gulf Coast this year occurred in August. During the month, the Federal Offshore Gulf of Mexico saw its largest monthly decrease in production of crude oil since September 2008, dropping by 453,000 barrels per day (BBL/d), or 27%, as a result of shut-ins caused by hurricanes Laura and Marco, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Crude oil production in the Gulf totaled 1.2 million BBL/d in August, the lowest production rate in nearly seven years.
The hurricanes led operators to reduce output for 15 days. Hurricane Marco hit first, making landfall on August 24.
Three days later, Hurricane Laura, the 10th-strongest U.S. hurricane on record, made landfall.
See EIA chart below showing the impact of hurricanes Laura and Marco on monthly crude oil production.
Laura, which slammed into Cameron, Louisiana, as a Category 4 storm, went on to cause massive disruptions in Louisiana and parts of east Texas, taking out most of the power in the area, downing tall structures, destroying buildings and flooding railways with flood surges. At the time, more than 310 industrial plants in the immediate area of the storm's landfall, including seven petroleum refineries and 14 ethylene units, were confirmed offline.
Power outages and waterway shutdowns due to Laura caused Sempra Energy's (NYSE:SRE) (San Diego, California) 15 million-ton-per-year Cameron liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Hackberry, Louisiana, to stay offline for more than 40 days. For more information, see August 27, 2020, article - Hurricane Laura Damage Assessments Underway at Hundreds of Industrial Plants, a Weather Impact Update by Industrial Info, and October 7, 2020, article - Cameron LNG Begins Shipping Again, an Industrial Info Market Brief.
See Disaster Impact Tracker map below of Hurricane Laura's path.
Laura was followed by Hurricane Sally, which made landfall in mid-September near Gulf Shores, Alabama, as a Category 2 storm, causing a wide range of chemical, metals and pharmaceutical facilities to shut down in advance. For more information see September 16, 2020, article - Hurricane Sally Makes Landfall as Category 2 Storm, a Weather Impact Update by Industrial Info.
See Disaster Impact Tracker map below showing Hurricane Sally's path.
The storms for the season were so numerous that weather forecasters were forced to begin naming them after letters in the Greek alphabet.
Hurricanes Delta and Zeta harried the U.S. Gulf Coast in October. For more information, see October 8, 2020, article - Here We Go Again: Hurricane Delta Bears Down on Already Battered Louisiana and October 28, 2020, article - Hurricane Zeta to Make Landfall Near New Orleans, a Weather Impact Update by Industrial Info.
See Disaster Impact Tracker map below showing Delta's path.
Hurricane Zeta disrupted power for an estimated 480,000 Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) (New Orleans, Louisiana) customers in Louisiana and Mississippi. For related information, see October 28, 2020, article - Entergy Struggles with Hurricanes, COVID-19 as it Plots Major NGCC, Transmission Buildouts.
Zeta also caused shutdowns at PBF Energy Incorporated's (NYSE:PBF) (Parsippany, New Jersey) 192,000-barrel-per-day (BBL/d) Chalmette, Louisiana, refinery and Valero Energy Corporation's (NYSE:VLO) (San Antonio, Texas) 135,000-BBL/d Meraux, Louisiana, refinery.
See Disaster Impact Tracker map below showing Zeta's path.
On November 3, Hurricane Eta battered parts of Nicaragua as a strong Category 4 storm, causing flooding in Central America. For more information, see November 3, 2020, article - Hurricane Eta Hits Nicaragua as Fierce Cat 4 Storm, a Weather Impact Update by Industrial Info.
See Disaster Impact Tracker map below showing Hurricane Eta's path.
Eta was followed by Hurricane Iota, a Category 5 storm that caused severe damage to areas in Central America in mid-November. For more information, see November 13, 2020, article - Parade of Hurricanes Continues with Latest Forecast for Central America, a Weather Impact Update by Industrial Info.
See Disaster Impact Tracker map below of Iota.
During this time, Industrial Info's researchers also monitored the impact of tracked storms in the Pacific, such as Super Typhoon GONI-20, which made landfall in the Philippines in late October, and Typhoon VAMCO-20, which hit the Philippines in November.
For more information, see October 30, 2020, article - Super Typhoon GONI-20 Targets the Philippines, a Weather Impact Update by Industrial Info, and November 11, 2020, article - Typhoon VAMCO-20 Intensifies As It Approaches Philippines.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com.
During this period, Industrial Info's research staff worked to disclose the swath of plant and unit outages caused by the storms.
"Our research staff rose to the occasion to uncover the facts related to the impacts to plants and operations during this challenging time," said Paul Copello, president of IIR Energy (Sugar Land, Texas), a division of Industrial Info.
"As we all know, on top of COVID-19 playing havoc on petrochemical and other operations, we had a full parade of tropical systems making landfall in the Atlantic Basin this year. Our hands-on, educated, experienced and dedicated staff did what it took to get the supply-side answers for the market, not only with pre-storm outage forecasts, but live plant impact updates, and then, of course, the full follow-up story as facilities have struggled to get back on line to this day," Copello continued. "The dynamic world of supply-side upsets is never ending, but this year, we reached a milestone for real-time updates across the entire energy sector, including gas, power, refining, petrochemicals and more. IIR's boots-on-the ground research came through with the facts and the full story."
See list below of named storms this season.
Throughout it all, Industrial Info was providing its readers with the latest information on weather-related offline events for Oil & Gas Production platforms, Terminals, Refineries, Chemical Processing plants and Power facilities caused by the bombardment of storms.
Industrial Info also sent out storm-related weather impact update alerts, starting with Tropical Storm Cristobal on June 4, and ending with Hurricane Iota on November 16. Industrial Info was able to reveal the impact on each plant's operation and capacity, along with supply and production issues, for each facility, with continuous updates prior to, during and after each event.
The season officially began on June 1 and ended on November 30. But even before the season started, two tropical storms jumped the gun and formed in May.
Of the 30 named storms for the season, 12 made landfall in the U.S.
Hanna, the season's first hurricane, made landfall on July 25 along the lower Texas coast, packing 80-mile-per-hour winds but causing relatively little damage to industry infrastructure. For more information, see July 24, 2020, article - Tropical Storm Hanna to Hit Lower Texas Gulf Coast, Little Industry Impact Expected and July 25, 2020, article - Hanna Strengthens to Hurricane as it Churns Toward South Texas Coast.
See Disaster Impact Tracker map below of Hurricane Hanna's path.
And then came Laura and Marco
The first really disruptive hurricane of the season to impact the U.S. Gulf Coast this year occurred in August. During the month, the Federal Offshore Gulf of Mexico saw its largest monthly decrease in production of crude oil since September 2008, dropping by 453,000 barrels per day (BBL/d), or 27%, as a result of shut-ins caused by hurricanes Laura and Marco, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Crude oil production in the Gulf totaled 1.2 million BBL/d in August, the lowest production rate in nearly seven years.
The hurricanes led operators to reduce output for 15 days. Hurricane Marco hit first, making landfall on August 24.
Three days later, Hurricane Laura, the 10th-strongest U.S. hurricane on record, made landfall.
See EIA chart below showing the impact of hurricanes Laura and Marco on monthly crude oil production.
Laura, which slammed into Cameron, Louisiana, as a Category 4 storm, went on to cause massive disruptions in Louisiana and parts of east Texas, taking out most of the power in the area, downing tall structures, destroying buildings and flooding railways with flood surges. At the time, more than 310 industrial plants in the immediate area of the storm's landfall, including seven petroleum refineries and 14 ethylene units, were confirmed offline.
Power outages and waterway shutdowns due to Laura caused Sempra Energy's (NYSE:SRE) (San Diego, California) 15 million-ton-per-year Cameron liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Hackberry, Louisiana, to stay offline for more than 40 days. For more information, see August 27, 2020, article - Hurricane Laura Damage Assessments Underway at Hundreds of Industrial Plants, a Weather Impact Update by Industrial Info, and October 7, 2020, article - Cameron LNG Begins Shipping Again, an Industrial Info Market Brief.
See Disaster Impact Tracker map below of Hurricane Laura's path.
Laura was followed by Hurricane Sally, which made landfall in mid-September near Gulf Shores, Alabama, as a Category 2 storm, causing a wide range of chemical, metals and pharmaceutical facilities to shut down in advance. For more information see September 16, 2020, article - Hurricane Sally Makes Landfall as Category 2 Storm, a Weather Impact Update by Industrial Info.
See Disaster Impact Tracker map below showing Hurricane Sally's path.
The storms for the season were so numerous that weather forecasters were forced to begin naming them after letters in the Greek alphabet.
Hurricanes Delta and Zeta harried the U.S. Gulf Coast in October. For more information, see October 8, 2020, article - Here We Go Again: Hurricane Delta Bears Down on Already Battered Louisiana and October 28, 2020, article - Hurricane Zeta to Make Landfall Near New Orleans, a Weather Impact Update by Industrial Info.
See Disaster Impact Tracker map below showing Delta's path.
Hurricane Zeta disrupted power for an estimated 480,000 Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) (New Orleans, Louisiana) customers in Louisiana and Mississippi. For related information, see October 28, 2020, article - Entergy Struggles with Hurricanes, COVID-19 as it Plots Major NGCC, Transmission Buildouts.
Zeta also caused shutdowns at PBF Energy Incorporated's (NYSE:PBF) (Parsippany, New Jersey) 192,000-barrel-per-day (BBL/d) Chalmette, Louisiana, refinery and Valero Energy Corporation's (NYSE:VLO) (San Antonio, Texas) 135,000-BBL/d Meraux, Louisiana, refinery.
See Disaster Impact Tracker map below showing Zeta's path.
On November 3, Hurricane Eta battered parts of Nicaragua as a strong Category 4 storm, causing flooding in Central America. For more information, see November 3, 2020, article - Hurricane Eta Hits Nicaragua as Fierce Cat 4 Storm, a Weather Impact Update by Industrial Info.
See Disaster Impact Tracker map below showing Hurricane Eta's path.
Eta was followed by Hurricane Iota, a Category 5 storm that caused severe damage to areas in Central America in mid-November. For more information, see November 13, 2020, article - Parade of Hurricanes Continues with Latest Forecast for Central America, a Weather Impact Update by Industrial Info.
See Disaster Impact Tracker map below of Iota.
During this time, Industrial Info's researchers also monitored the impact of tracked storms in the Pacific, such as Super Typhoon GONI-20, which made landfall in the Philippines in late October, and Typhoon VAMCO-20, which hit the Philippines in November.
For more information, see October 30, 2020, article - Super Typhoon GONI-20 Targets the Philippines, a Weather Impact Update by Industrial Info, and November 11, 2020, article - Typhoon VAMCO-20 Intensifies As It Approaches Philippines.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com.
