It has been more than a week since Hurricane Ida made landfall on the Louisiana coast, and oil production facilities just offshore from there still aren’t operating at full capacity.
Energy industry expert Matt Smith told Texas Standard that Ida is having lasting effects on the oil and gas supply chain. Smith is lead oil analyst for the Americas at the analytics firm Kpler.
“The storm hit just over two weeks ago. And yet, mid-last week, about three-quarters of offshore oil production was still offline. And now that number has dropped to below 50% now. But it’s still sort of 880,000 barrels per day, which is shut in,” Smith said.
What’s more, Texas refineries are now bracing for Tropical Storm Nicholas, which is expected to land in somewhere on the Texas Gulf Coast.
Highlights from this segment:
– Ida didn’t only affect offshore oil production; refineries in Louisiana are also struggling to come back online after the storm.
– Limited oil production and refining due to Ida is keeping gas prices higher than normal this time of year. In Texas, it’s about $2.80 per gallon right now.
– If Tropical Storm Nicholas makes landfall on the Texas Gulf Coast as expected, it could impact refineries from Corpus Christi to Houston. Smith says that plants in that region refine approximately 75%-80% of all oil and gas exported from the United States.
