Hurricane Isaias approaches Gulf Coast as Category 3 storm, disrupts oil production
publishers 18articles 20first reported 7 Oct, 22:30 UTCdeveloping since 8 Oct · 12 editions
Hurricane Isaias approached the U.S. Gulf Coast on Friday as a Category 3 storm, with landfall expected Friday night or early Saturday near Mississippi, Alabama or the Florida Panhandle. Evacuations were ordered in parts of Alabama and Florida as the storm strengthened.
The National Hurricane Center reported maximum sustained winds of 120 mph, according to CNBC. Category 3 storms have sustained winds of 111 to 129 mph and are classified as major hurricanes. Hurricane warnings were in effect for areas that include Pascagoula, Mississippi, and Saraland, Alabama.
Oil companies had halted about 1.3 million barrels per day of Gulf of Mexico crude production as of Thursday, representing roughly 63% of U.S. production in the region, CNBC reported, citing the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.
The hurricane appeared to be moving away from the concentration of refineries in southern Louisiana, but facilities in Pascagoula and Saraland remained at risk. Together, Chevron’s Pascagoula refinery and Vertex Energy’s Saraland refinery account for about 466,000 barrels per day, or 2.4% of U.S. refining capacity, according to analyst Andy Lipow. Chevron said Thursday that its Pascagoula facility remained operational.
Lipow said flooding or power loss posed the main threats to the two refineries and warned that tanker traffic and fuel deliveries could also face delays. Any outages could further constrain fuel supplies while Gulf Coast refineries are operating near capacity.
HOW THIS STORY WAS MADE
Written from 8 articles, 2 with the publisher's own text; 8 independent newsrooms once syndicated copies count as one; this version written 42 h after the record first saw the story; the editor kept it as written.
- Publishers
- 18
- Source articles
- 20
- Given to the writer
- 8, 2 with the article's own text
- Independent newsrooms
- 8
- This version written
- 42 h after the record first saw the story
- Second model (editor)
- kept as written
- Publication gate
- passed
- Human review
- none
WHAT THE EDITOR DID
The second model checked the writer's draft against the same sources and published it as written.
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