Harvey Update: Presidential Visit and Growing Benevolence
Mark Green
Posted August 29, 2017
As the Houston and Louisiana areas brace for more rain in what is one of the biggest rain events in U.S. history, President Trump and the First Lady visited Corpus Christi to see storm impacts in person. The Gulf Coast is one of the United States’ key energy centers, where a number of natural gas and oil companies operate and where thousands of their employees live, and his visit drew praise and appreciation from Texans gathered at a fire station for his remarks.
Certainly, the news from Houston continues to be dominated by rescue and sheltering efforts, as now-Tropical Storm Harvey appears headed for a second landfall near Beaumont, Texas. Check the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s map showing the storm’s track and its proximity to refineries (boxes), offshore natural gas and oil platforms (brown dots) and natural gas processing plants (light blue flame icons):
A quick update on affected energy infrastructure from the U.S. Energy Department (as of Tuesday afternoon):
- Gulf Oil Production – 319,523 barrels per (b/d) day shut in on Tuesday, improved from 331,370 b/d shut in on Monday. (Pre-hurricane output was 1.75 million b/d.) That’s 18.2 percent of Gulf crude output.
- Gulf Natural Gas Production – 615.09 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) shut in on Tuesday, up from 583.39 MMcf/d on Monday. (Pre-hurricane output was 3,220 MMcf/d.) That’s 19.1 percent of Gulf natural gas output.
- Platforms – 102 manned natural gas and oil platforms evacuated as of Tuesday, up from 98 evacuated on Monday. (Pre-hurricane count was 737.)
- Refining – Total of 14 refineries in the Corpus Christi-Houston/Galveston-Beaumont/Port Arthur areas shut down or in the process of shutting down as of Tuesday afternoon, representing combined refining capacity of 3.2 million barrels per day, 17.6 percent of the U.S. total. In addition, one refinery in the Houston/Galveston area, two in the Beaumont/Port Arthur area and two in Lake Charles, La., were operating at reduced rates.
Meanwhile, relief efforts are being supported by a wide variety a companies, including a number of energy companies. The Houston Business Journal has a pretty good roundup. Organizations that offer emergency services also are being helped by a range of private interests as well, from “Fixer Upper” hosts Chip and Joanna Gaines to the Houston Texans’ J.J. Watt:
$1 MILLION!
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) August 29, 2017
New Goal: $1.5 Million https://t.co/SR6DmnNbyM pic.twitter.com/YUzbCLWgBa
Some of the other things we’re reading on Hurricane/Tropical Storm Harvey:
- “Hurricane Harvey: What Happened and What’s Next?”
- “Hurricane Harvey: How It Grew From Tropical Cyclone to Category 4 Hurricane”
- “Unflappable Grandma Rescued From Flooded Home on Jet Ski”
Informational links:
- API hurricane information
- API hurricane response and market effect fact sheet
- Twitter feed: Public agencies responding to the storm
- Texas Department of Transportation (highway conditions)
About The Author
Mark Green joined API after a career in newspaper journalism, including 16 years as national editorial writer for The Oklahoman in the paper’s Washington bureau. Previously, Mark was a reporter, copy editor and sports editor at an assortment of newspapers. He earned his journalism degree from the University of Oklahoma and master’s in journalism and public affairs from American University. He and his wife Pamela have two grown children and six grandchildren.