Harvey’s Toll on Energy Industry Shows a Texas Vulnerability
The damage, detailed in state and federal regulatory filings, is wide ranging: escaping gasoline from a submerged roof at a Phillips 66 storage tank; a sinking tank roof at Exxon Mobil’s vast refinery in Baytown, which resulted in the release of hazardous gases including volatile organic compounds and benzene, above permitted levels; and a lightning strike
that disrupted operations and led to toxic-gas releases at a Dow Chemical plant in Freeport.
The environmental fallout could worsen, and if oil
and natural gas prices spike because refineries and pipelines are crippled, renewable energy sources like wind and solar power, along with electric cars, could get a major lift.
At least seven major refineries are out of commission, and Morningstar on Tuesday estimated
that 11 more refineries, with a combined capacity to produce 1.3 million barrels per day, risked closing, including the Saudi Aramco-Motiva refinery in Port Arthur, Tex., the nation’s largest.
