Olefins producers in Louisiana Monday began bracing for the arrival of Tropical Storm Isaac, with at least one steam cracker shutdown planned ahead of the storm's expected landfall in the central Gulf Coast, sources said.
Williams planned to shut its 612,000 mt/year steam cracker in Geismar beginning at 4 p.m. CDT Monday as part of precautionary measures being taken by the company, a company source said.
The shutdown could last as long as a week, the source said. Geismar is about 60 miles northwest of New Orleans.
It follows refinery shutdowns in Louisiana announced earlier in the day by Valero, Marathon and Phillips 66, among others, as well as Enterprise Products Partners' shutdown of two NGL fractionators and one gas processing plant in the state.
Other producers were monitoring the situation before deciding on the next step.
Shell, which operates two crackers (capacity 1.36 million mt/year) at its Norco petrochemical complex in St. Charles Parish, said on its website that facilities at Norco, Convent and Geismar as well as Mobile, Alabama, were running at reduced rates.
Westlake Chemical, which operates two steam crackers in Lake Charles, Louisiana, with a combined production capacity of more than 1 million mt/year, had implemented its hurricane planning procedures.
"We will continue to monitor the storm and the related risks and will take the necessary steps to ensure the safety of our personnel and the local facilities," Westlake Senior Vice President of Administration Dave Hansen said.
SASOL STILL OPERATING NORMALLY
Sasol, which operates a 430,000 mt/year cracker, was monitoring the situation as well but operating normally, a company spokeswoman said.
Isaac was moving west-northwestward over the eastern Gulf of Mexico with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph, and was about 255 miles south-southwest of Apalachicola, Florida, and about 300 miles southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River.
The National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane warning for coastal areas east of Morgan City, Louisiana, to Destin, Florida, and forecasters said Isaac could hit land as a Category 1-2 hurricane on Tuesday.
There are 11 olefins plants located in Louisiana, with a combined production of more than 6.4 million mt/year of ethylene and other products, according to Platts data.
Companies with olefins production in Louisiana also include ExxonMobil Chemical, Dow Chemical, which at 2.2 million mt/year capacity is the largest olefins producer in the state.
"We are actively monitoring the progress of the storm," a Dow Chemical spokesman said. "All Louisiana sites are currently implementing their preparedness plans as appropriate."
Calls to ExxonMobil Chemical seeking a status update on its Baton Rouge petrochemical complex were not immediately returned.
