Houston refiners weather hurricane-force winds: Update
Adds Calcasieu comment, update on flaring reporting
Over 2mn b/d of US refining capacity faced destructive winds Thursday evening as a major storm blew through Houston, Texas, but the damage reported so far has been minimal.
Wind speeds of up to 78 mph were recorded in northeast Houston and the Houston Ship Channel — home to five refineries with a combined 1.5mn b/d of capacity — faced winds up to 74 mph, according to the National Weather Service.
Further South in Galveston Bay, where Valero and Marathon Petroleum refineries total 818,000 b/d of capacity, max wind speeds of 51 mph were recorded.
Chevron's 112,000 b/d Pasadena refinery on the Ship Channel just east of downtown Houston sustained minor damage during the storm and continues to supply customers, the company said.
ExxonMobil's 564,000 b/d Baytown refinery on the Ship Channel and 369,000 b/d Beaumont, Texas, refinery further east faced no significant impact from the storm and the company continues to supply customers, a spokesperson told Argus.
Neither Phillips 66's 265,000 b/d Sweeny refinery southwest of Houston nor its 264,000 b/d Lake Charles refinery 140 miles east in Louisiana were affected by the storm, a spokesperson said.
There was no damage at Motiva's 626,000 b/d Port Arthur, Texas, refinery according to the company.
Calcasieu's 136,000 b/d refinery in Lake Charles, Louisiana, was unaffected by the storm and operations are normal, the refiner said.
Marathon Petroleum declined to comment on operations at its 593,000 b/d Galveston Bay refinery.
Valero, LyondellBasell, Pemex, Total and Citgo did not immediately respond to requests for comment on operations at their refineries in the Houston area, Port Arthur and Lake Charles.
A roughly eight-mile portion of the Houston Ship Channel from the Sidney Sherman Bridge to Greens Bayou closed from 9pm ET 16 May to 1am ET today when two ships brokeaway from their moorings, and officials looked in a potential fuel oil spill, according to the US Coast Guard.
The portion that closed provides access to Valero's 215,000 b/d Houston refinery, LyondellBasell's 264,000 b/d Houston refinery and Chevron's Pasadena refinery.
Emissions filings with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) are yet to indicate the extent of any flaring and disruption to operations in the Houston area Thursday evening, but will likely be reported later Friday and over the weekend.
Gulf coast refiners ran their plants at average utilization rates of 93pc in the week ended 10 May, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), up by two percentage points from the prior week as the industry heads into the late-May Memorial Day weekend and beginning of peak summer driving season. The next EIA data release on 22 May will likely reveal any dip in Gulf coast refinery throughputs resulting from the storm.
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Oil firms in Kurdistan deny Iraqi PM's contract claims
Oil firms in Kurdistan deny Iraqi PM's contract claims
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Riyadh monetises Aramco with new share sale
Riyadh monetises Aramco with new share sale
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Dangote jet fuel weighing on European prices
Dangote jet fuel weighing on European prices
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Aramco looks to woo global investors with share sale
Aramco looks to woo global investors with share sale
Dubai, 31 May (Argus) — The rationale for state-controlled Saudi Aramco's decision to launch a secondary public offering is not only to provide funds to the Saudi government for its massive socio-economic transformation plan but also to broaden the company's shareholder base among local and international investors, chief executive Amin Nasser said. Aramco revealed yesterday that it plans to sell 1.545bn shares, equivalent to about 0.64pc of the company, in a secondary public offering due to kick off on 2 June. The shares are expected to be priced in a range of 26.70-29 Saudi riyals ($7.12-$7.73) each, which means the firm could raise $12bn at the top end. Proceeds could be as high as $13.1bn at the top end of the range if Aramco chooses to exercise an over-allotment option, which would allow the sale of around 1.7bn shares. Aramco's closing share price on 30 May stood at SR29. "The offering provides us with an opportunity to broaden the shareholder base among both Saudi and international investors," Nasser said. "It also offers us an opportunity to further increase liquidity and to increase global index weighting." The offering has been years in the making. Aramco's initial public offering (IPO) in 2019 raised a record $29.4bn. The secondary offering will test international investment appetite for fossil fuels in the face of growing concerns over global climate targets. Nasser points to four key performance-related reasons as to why he views Aramco as an attractive investment opportunity. The first is the company's competitive advantage due to scale, cost efficiency and low upstream carbon intensity. The second is Aramco's differentiated growth opportunities across upstream, downstream, carbon capture, hydrogen and renewables. The third is its financial strength and the fourth its dividend distribution policy. "We distributed a record $98bn in 2023 and we anticipate distributing over $124bn of dividends in 2024. This would represent an almost 30pc increase from 2023," Nasser said. Proceeds from the offering will help fund Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 initiative, a government programme which aims to achieve increased diversification economically, socially and culturally. Saudi Arabia's finance minister Mohammed al-Jadaan suggested last month that the country may make changes to its plans, including delays or acceleration for some projects. Saudi Arabia recorded a sixth straight quarterly budget deficit in January-March this year, as spending outpaced revenue on the back of lower energy prices and curbs on its crude production. The launch of the secondary offering on 2 June coincides with an Opec+ ministers' meeting to decide whether to extend the group's current voluntary crude supply cuts into the second half of the year. By Bachar Halabi Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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