Rita threatens Texas refineries

From correspondents in Washington
September 22, 2005

HURRICANE Rita could threaten up to 18 Texas oil refineries that have a combined capacity of four million barrels per day or 23 per cent of the nation's total refining capacity, the US Energy Information Administration said today.

"While not all of this capacity would be affected under any scenario, it does point out how much refining capacity is at risk," the EIA said in a weekly oil market report.
Texas has 26 refineries, with 18 located near the Gulf of Mexico coastline, it said.

Rita was packing winds of up to 225km/h as it blew through the Gulf of Mexico today.

The storm's most likely to make landfall at the end of the week, based on its forecast path, was south of Galveston.

The EIA said Rita's current projected path puts it south of some of the major oil-producing areas in the Gulf of Mexico.

However, if the storm "follows a more northerly path towards the western portion of the Gulf of Mexico, an area not materially affected by Hurricane Katrina, the impact could be significant as new areas of offshore as well as onshore petroleum infrastructure would be impacted", the EIA said.

Thousands of workers were evacuated from offshore drilling rigs and production platforms today as a safety precaution.

Refineries in the Houston area - a hub of US oil refining and petrochemical production - were also reducing operations to prepare for the storm.

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