Hurricane Harvey’s Fury Misses Mexico But Not Its Gasoline Supply Amy Stillman and Adam Williams - Bloomberg
go to original August 26, 2017

Deaths Reported as Harvey Strikes Texas Coast (Al Jazeera)

Update: Gulf of Mexico Oil Production Down By a Quarter After Hurricane Harvey (RT)

Mexico’s lucky escape from Hurricane Harvey could still mean higher fuel costs and shortages ahead for the no. 1 buyer of US gasoline.

While the storm passed relatively harmlessly over Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, it strengthened to a Category 4 hurricane before making landfall in Texas near the US Gulf Coast’s refinery hub that helps feed Mexico’s transportation system. Last month, imports generated 72 per cent of Pemex’s gasoline sales at a time when its six refineries operated at the lowest volume since December 1990. The outlook isn’t much better ahead, with output from two of the state-owned company’s refineries either severely curtailed or shut down. Meanwhile, Harvey may dump as much as 35 inches of rain on areas of Texas over the next week, according to the National Hurricane Center.

If damage in the US “is as extensive as it could be, then we are looking at a pretty serious crunch on Mexico’s fuel supply,” said Javier Alonso, an analyst at Americas Market Intelligence, by telephone. “Expect fuel prices to go up regardless of where they get their supply from.”



Mexico was the largest buyer of US refined products in May at 879,000 barrels a day, some 17 per cent of total US exports, according to the US Energy Information Agency.

Harvey slowed to a Category 3 hurricane as it hit the northeastern shore of Copano Bay in Texas, the National Hurricane Center said in an advisory posted about 1am local time Saturday. It made landfall as a Category 4 storm, the strongest to hit the US since Hurricane Charley in 2004.

Read the rest at Bloomberg

Related: How Will Gulf of Mexico Oil, Gas Weather Harvey's Impact? (Daily Advertiser)

Related: Mexican Troops Saved American Lives After Katrina - Would Trump Let Them Do It After Harvey? (Associated Press)

Related: Fear of Deportation Could Keep Texans from Evacuating for Harvey — and Trump Is Making It Worse (DeathRattleSports.com)

Related: In Effort to Show Engagement on Hurricane, Trump Responds Via Twitter (The Washington Post)

Related: Lack of a Storm Surge Keeps Harvey from Katrina, Sandy Status (Bloomberg)

Related: How Harvey Went from a Little-Noticed Storm to a Behemoth (The Washington Post)

Related: Harvey Hits U.S. Oil Hub with Massive Winds and Torrential Rain (Fortune)

Related: About 20,000 Cruise Passengers Stuck at Sea Because of Harvey (The Washington Post)

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