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Virgin Island PDVSA Hovensa refinery ops normal, Earl shuts harbor
HOUSTON
Petroleumworld.com, Aug 31, 2010Hovensa LLC said on Monday its harbor and all other ports in the U.S. Virgin Islands were closed because of Hurricane Earl although operations at the 500,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery on the island of St. Croix were normal, a spokesman said.
"Operations at the refinery continue, except the harbor, which was closed effective 8 o'clock this morning, as well as all ports in the U.S. Virgin Islands, by order of the U.S. Coast Guard," Hovensa spokesman Alex Moorhead said in an e-mail.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center upgraded Hurricane Earl to a major Category 3 storm on Monday and expected it to strengthen to a Category 4. The storm was eventually expected to move north through the Atlantic with some forecasters expecting a likely offshore grazing of North Carolina's Outer Banks and/or New England's Cape region. [ID:N30177607]
On its current path, Earl posed no threat to the Gulf of Mexico , where major U.S. oil and gas installations are located.
East Coast refiners also were watching the storm.
Valero Energy Corp ( VLO.N ) spokesman Bill Day said the company was monitoring its strength and projected path.
"Should the storm move closer to Valero's East Coast refineries, we will evaluate the next steps and take the proper precautions," Day said.
ConocoPhillips ( COP.N ) said on its Web site the company was monitoring the storm and its refineries in New Jersey and Pennsylvania were unaffected.
At 11 a.m. EST (1500 GMT), the hurricane was located about 95 miles (150 km) east-northeast of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands and about 165 miles (265 km) east of San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The hurricane buffeted the northernmost Leeward Islands with rain, winds and waves as it passed on Monday.
Hovensa is a joint venture owned by Hess Corp ( HES.N ) and PDVSA, Venezuela's state oil company.
Story by Kristen Hays from Reuters
Reuters 08/30/2010
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