Six oil refineries in Louisiana that were affected by Hurricane Francine started their recovery efforts on Thursday. According to sources familiar with the operations, Exxon Mobil reported minimal damage at its Baton Rouge refinery, which has a capacity of 522,500 barrels per day (bpd). The refinery was operating normally and approaching maximum output after having reduced production to as low as 20% during the storm.
Marathon Petroleum, which operates the Garyville refinery (597,000 bpd), did not provide an update on its status, but power outages were reported in the area. Shell’s Norco refinery (233,702 bpd) experienced a shutdown of its diesel-producing hydrocracker during the storm, and assessments for potential damage are ongoing. Shell indicated that initial evaluations showed no serious damage.
PBF Energy’s Chalmette refinery (190,000 bpd) was reported to be operating normally, while updates from Valero regarding its St. Charles and Meraux refineries were not available.