The 660,000 b/d Explorer pipeline last night shut down its main products line between the US Gulf coast and Oklahoma as flooding from tropical storm Harvey disrupted refineries across southeastern Texas.
Explorer says it closed down the line because of a shutdown of a connecting facility at its origin in Port Arthur, Texas. The city is facing severe flooding after receiving 24 inches (61cm) of rain yesterday, as Harvey re-emerged from the Gulf to make its second landfall nearby. Another 10 inches of rain are possible today.
The 28-inch products line begins in Port Arthur, passes through Houston and continues to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Explorer yesterday said it expected to shut down the line today because it would run out of product to pump. The 1,830-mile (2,945km) pipeline system transports gasoline, diesel, fuel oil and jet fuel.
Explorer says its 24-inch line, which extends further to Wood River, Illinois, for final delivery to Hammond, Indiana, will run until sometime this afternoon. Another part of the system, a 10-inch line from Houston to the Dallas-Fort Worth area in Texas, is running after being temporarily off line yesterday.
Explorer hopes to be running again by the end of the week but when that happens is "dependent on connecting facilities and is purely speculative," vice president of operations Dolin Argo said. The pipeline is owned by Philips66, Marathon, Energy Transfer Partners and Shell.
All six refineries in Corpus Christi, seven in the Houston area and two in the Port Arthur area are shut down or in the process of shutting down, according to the US Energy Department. Those refineries have a capacity of about 3.9mn b/d, equivalent to 40pc of US Gulf refining capacity, while other refineries in the region are operating at reduced rates.
Harvey has affected other products pipelines originating out of the Houston area.
The 5,500-mile Colonial pipeline system, a major source of gasoline and other products for the southeast and the New York Harbor market, yesterday said it was operating at reduced capacity because of limited supply from its Houston origin. Colonial also says its facilities in Pasadena, Houston and Cedar Bayou were damaged by the storm.
