By Sheila Dang and Ashitha Shivaprasad
HOUSTON, June 16 (Reuters) – A tropical storm was expected to form off the Texas coast by Wednesday morning from a system labeled Potential Tropical Cyclone One, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Tuesday, warning of heavy rainfall and dangerous flash flooding along the energy corridor that includes major offshore drilling and onshore refineries.
Those refineries have so far taken only preliminary precautions of securing plants’ loose items that could be thrown around by high winds expected when the storm comes onshore near the Texas-Louisiana border as early as Wednesday.
Shell Plc said there had been no impact on the offshore production platforms from the forming storm. BP said it was monitoring the storm’s progress.
Much of the U.S.-regulated production in the northern Gulf of Mexico is south and east of the forecast path of the weak storm system.
The potential tropical cyclone — about 65 miles (105 km) southwest of Corpus Christi, Texas — would take the name Arthur if it strengthens and becomes the first named storm of the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season.
It is currently producing maximum sustained winds of 30 miles per hour (45 km/h). A tropical storm watch has been issued for the northwestern Gulf Coast from Sargent, Texas, to the Texas-Louisiana border.
A Tropical Storm Warning was issued on Tuesday from Sabine Pass on the border of the two states to Morgan City, Louisiana.
The storm is not expected to become a hurricane, according to forecast models.
“The disturbance should move offshore the Texas coast tonight or early Wednesday, move roughly parallel to the upper Texas coast later on Wednesday and move back inland in extreme eastern Texas or southwestern Louisiana late Wednesday or early Thursday,” the NHC said.
Regardless of further strengthening, the storm system is expected to bring 4 to 8 inches of rainfall — with isolated higher totals around 12 inches (30.5 cm) — through Thursday along the Texas coast through much of Louisiana and beyond. A dangerous storm surge could flood normally dry areas, the NHC added.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Monday issued a disaster declaration for 101 counties in the state.
ENERGY SECTOR MONITORS STORM IMPACT
The heavy rains could dampen the fun around the FIFA World Cup match between Portugal and DR Congo set to be played in Houston on Wednesday, while also raising concerns about any potential impact to energy assets spread across the broader region. Tony Dupont, COO at Earth Science Associates, said that the storm, so far, “doesn’t look too strong.”
Andrew Polk, a weather risk manager at data consultancy DTN, said major oil production locations in the Gulf were currently outside of the track of forecasted tropical storm force winds.
“There may still be some disruptions, primarily due to the overall impact of helicopter operations which may disrupt and delay crew changes from occurring due to the winds and thunderstorms associated with Potential Tropical Cyclone One,” he said in an emailed response to questions, adding that wave heights are forecast to increase to between 7 and 9 feet to the east and south of the storm.
“The wave impacts primarily disrupt operations in the water with lift boats and/or diving operations,” he continued, adding that the primary focus of the system will be total rainfall amounts expected along the Texas and Louisiana coast.
The U.S. Gulf of America federal offshore region produced nearly 2 million barrels of crude oil per day in March, accounting for roughly 14% of total U.S. crude output. Shell, BP, Chevron and Occidental Petroleum are among the largest deepwater operators.
The Gulf Coast refining region that runs from Corpus Christi to Pascagoula, Mississippi, holds around half of total U.S. refining capacity of 18.4 million barrels per day (bpd).
The largest U.S. refinery is the Saudi Aramco-owned Motiva Enterprises’ Port Arthur, Texas, plant, which has a crude oil throughput of 640,500 barrels per day. Other major Gulf Coast refineries include Marathon Petroleum’s Galveston Bay plant and ExxonMobil’s refineries in Beaumont and Baytown, Texas, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
LNG giants including Cheniere and Venture Global also have major liquefaction facilities along the coastal region.
(Reporting by Ashitha Shivaprasad in Bengaluru and Sheila Dang in Houston; Additional Reporting by Erwin Seba in Houston; Writing by Nathan Crooks; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Aurora Ellis and Matthew Lewis)
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