Status of LOOP unclear in aftermath of Hurricane Katrina

Houston (Platts)--29Aug2005

The status of the key Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, which handles about
10% of the foreign crude shipped to the US, remained unclear Monday in the
aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
     Calls inquiring about an update on LOOP went unanswered or met
connection difficulty as a result of the storm. Sources in the domestic crude
markets also noted they had not spoken to anyone from LOOP.
     LOOP continued to run a notice on its website indicating that all its
marine and pipeline delivery operations were suspended as of 11 a.m. EDT
Sunday, and that "operations will resume when conditions permit."
     The port, which handles 1-mil b/d of crude, offloads foreign crude
from tankers, stores the crude oil, and transports it via connecting
pipelines to refineries throughout the Gulf Coast and Midwest.
     LOOP is also the storage and terminaling facility for the MARS pipeline
system and its supply of offshore Gulf of Mexico crude oil.
     The port is 20 miles offshore the Louisiana coast, and was in the path
for the brunt of Katrina.

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