Refineries along the Gulf of Mexico were largely unaffected by Tropical Storm Bertha, which first made landfall in southern Louisiana on Wednesday, July 22.
Over the past decade, tropical storms and hurricanes have disrupted U.S. Gulf Coast refining on several occasions, highlighting the region’s vulnerability. More than half of U.S. refining capacity is concentrated along 600 miles of the Gulf Coast, from Corpus Christi, Texas in the west, to New Orleans in the east. The clustering of refineries, petrochemical plants and base oil production makes the region highly efficient but also leaves a large share of North American fuel and lubricant supply exposed to severe weather events.
Hurricane Harvey in 2017 shut down or reduced operations at numerous Texas refineries after widespread flooding. Hurricane Laura in 2020 and Hurricane Ida in 2021 caused refinery damage and prolonged outages, including damage that ultimately led to the closure of Phillips 66’s Alliance refinery in Louisiana. More recently, Hurricane Beryl in 2024 forced several Gulf Coast refineries to cut production because of power outages, underscoring the region’s continuing exposure to severe weather.
On this occasion, the exception may have been Phillips 66’s Sweeny refinery in Texas, which suffered a malfunction because of a lightning strike as the remnants of the storm passed near Houston on Thursday night.
Industry insiders said that most refiners are well-prepared and have contingency plans in place given the typical threat of severe weather along the Gulf Coast during hurricane season.
Both buyers and sellers typically maintain extra inventories in case of production disruptions from June until November — a plan that has been complicated by the tight supply situation affecting most base oil categories.