Ian Disrupts Gasoline Supplies, Ethanol, LPG storage, a Weather Impact Update

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Hurricane Ian was downgraded to a tropical storm Thursday morning as it swept across Florida, but still packed winds as strong as 70 miles per hour, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). The storm was expected to regain hurricane strength before hitting South Carolina.

Click on the image at right for an Industrial Info Disaster Impact Tracker map showing Ian's projected path.

Gasoline supplies to western Florida are expected to be disrupted as most refined products in the state are imported by ship rather than pipeline. Several terminals were in the direct path of Ian. There were more than a dozen fuel terminals on the west coast of Florida that were closed due to the storm, representing more than 8 million barrels of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel storage capacity.

More than 1 million barrels of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) storage and 300,000 barrels of dedicated ethanol storage were offline. It is expected that shipments will be eventually rerouted to the east coast, through ports in Miami and Fort Lauderdale as power is restored and damage assessments begin.

Southern Florida ports are beginning cleanup activities and have resumed operations. The Port of Tampa and those north remain under condition Zulu, which means they remained closed. The situation should change as the day progresses. Efforts were being ramped up to clean up damage and get things back into normal operating routines as rapidly as possible.

CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX) (Jacksonville, Florida) has closed intermodal terminals, auto terminals and railyards, and is beginning to assess damage. The transport company was mobilizing crews to repair damage as rapidly as possible in order to get operations back up and running.

Offshore, personnel had been evacuated from 11 production platforms as of Wednesday, according to the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE). Approximately 9.12% of oil production and 5.95% of natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico was shut in.

Ian left more than 2.6 million power customers without power in Florida, according to Poweroutage.us.

Florida Power and Light (FP&L) (Juno Beach, Florida), the largest electricity provider in the state terms of customers, reported there were more than 1.7 million customers without power at the height of the event, but power to more than 500,000 has been restored. FP&L reported it has assistance from 30 states helping with the recovery effort and will be working around the clock to restore power in areas deemed safe.

Duke Energy Florida (St. Petersburg, Florida), the second largest electricity provider in the state, reported more than 600,000 outages this morning. Duke Energy Florida is part of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) (Charlotte, North Carolina).

Tampa Electric (Tampa) and Lee County Electric Cooperative Incorporated (Fort Myers, Florida) each reported more than 200,000 outages in their respective coverage areas.

At this time, at least 27 electricity generation units were believed to be offline, representing more than 4.5 gigawatts of potential capacity.

Within the Pharmaceutical & Biotech Industry, 58 facilities were offline as of Wednesday in Florida.

Within the Metals & Minerals Industry, the effects of the hurricane were still being evaluated. Out of an abundance of caution, many mines and metals and minerals production facilities decided to close operations Wednesday and Thursday to ensure employee safety.

Several of The Mosaic Company's (NYSE:MOS) (Tampa, Florida) mines within were closed due to being in a mandatory evacuation zone. Trademark Metals Recycling, a Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) (Charlotte, North Carolina) company, shuttered all of its sites by Thursday with the exception of its Orlando operations. Within the impacted area, Industrial Info was still tracking 49 plants that were offline due to the storm, with damage assessments expected by Friday.

Ian was expected to grow stronger as it moves back over water when it approaches South Carolina on Friday. IIR will continue to monitor plants that fall within its path.

Visit Industrial Info's Disaster Impact Tracker often for updates on this and other active storms globally that could impact industrial assets. Click here for more information.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).