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Mehr zu Rita und den möglichen Auswirkungen auf die Ölindustrie:
What's at risk
Gulf of Mexico fields account for about 25% of U.S. crude production. Katrina's rampage shut down 95% of that output, and about 837,000 barrels, or 55% of the region's offshore oil output, is still shut three weeks after what will likely go down as the costliest storm in U.S. history. (d. h. ca. 23,75% der US-crude production capacity sind 3 Wochen nach Katrina noch nicht aktiv)
Katrina also briefly knocked out about 10% of the nation's refining capacity. About half of that is still out of commission because of storm damage at three Louisiana refineries belonging to ConocoPhillips (COP: news, chart, profile) , Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM: news, chart, profile) , and Murphy Oil Corp. (MUR: news, chart, profile) .
A fourth refinery, Chevron Corp.'s (CVX: news, chart, profile) 325,000 Pascagoula refinery on the Mississippi coastline, is tentatively slated to be back in full operation by November.
All that raised fresh concerns with Hurricane Rita as it takes aim at the Texas coast.
The Houston ship channel has an even higher concentration of refining and petrochemical plants than the Mississippi Delta and is home to Exxon Mobil Corp.'s (XOM: news, chart, profile) huge 557,000 barrel-a-day Baytown refinery, the nation's largest.
Just a few miles away is Shell Oil's (RD: news, chart, profile) 340,000 bpd Deer Park refinery complex, the sixth-largest in the country.
The Houston channel is a 25-mile waterway linking the refineries and petrochemical plants just east of Houston with the Gulf of Mexico. It is ranked as the nation's second-biggest port facility in terms of total tonnage, most of it carried on oil tankers and chemical bulk carriers.
About half way between Houston and the Gulf of Mexico lies BP Plc's (BP: news, chart, profile) sprawling Texas City refinery, a 460,000 bpd, 30-unit facility that alone accounts for roughly 3% of the nation's gasoline supply.
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