Nearly 115 Industrial Plants in the Potential Path of Tropical Storm Dolly in Southern Texas

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Tropical Storm Dolly could be the first major weather event generated in the Gulf of Mexico to potentially disrupt industrial plant operations since the hurricane season began early last month. Still rated as only a tropical storm, Dolly appears to have the southern most portion of Texas or even northern Mexico in its sights. The farther north the storm tracks, the greater the potential for it interfering with a larger number of industrial plant locations in Texas.

Click on the image at right to view a map of Tropical Storm Dolly's projected path, courtesy of Weather Insight.

The southern most region of Texas, which looks to be the probable location for landfall at the moment, is home to more than 115 industrial plants employing more than 12,440 people according to Industrial Info's North American Plant Database. These plants include seven Petroleum Refineries, approximately 12 Chemical Processing plants, nearly two dozen heavy Industrial Manufacturing sites, plus many more in the Food & Beverage and Metals & Minerals industries. Although tracking models show the storm remaining a tropical-storm-force disturbance, an abundance of rain and high winds can quickly cripple these industrial locations with high waters inside the plant and the loss of electricity, even if they last for a short period of time.

Click on the image at right to view a chart showing the breakdown of industrial plants and employees that could be affected by Tropical Storm Dolly.

Some evacuations of offshore drill platforms in the gulf began over the weekend, although the number of these appears to be minimal -- affecting less than a million barrels per day of capacity -- and is expected to only be a short-term disruption based on the current size of the storm. By Tuesday evening, petroleum refiners and large petrochemical producers in and around the Corpus Christi area will begin planning on the best course of action, including potential operating derates to entire site closures, depending on proximity and probability of landfall in their immediate area.

At the moment, this storm doesn't appear to pose much of a threat to major or long-term plant operations based on its size, intensity and landfall projections. Considering the fragile state of the energy market and the delicate balance of capacity, demand and pricing, avoiding a direct hit from a storm even with little strength would certainly help to avoid problems in an already volatile energy market.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is a marketing information service specializing in industrial process, energy and financial related markets with products and services ranging from industry news, analytics, forecasting, plant and project databases, as well as multimedia services.