-- Hurricane Wilma, with maximum sustained winds of 165 mph, was
a dangerous Category Five hurricane and, based on its central
pressure, is the most intense hurricane in the recorded history of
the Atlantic Basin, the National Hurricane Center said on Oct 19.
Wilma was 300 miles southeast of Cozumel, Mexico, at 2 p.m. EDT. The
storm's projected path takes it mostly away from oil and gas
producing areas in the Gulf of Mexico, and making landfall along
Florida's Gulf Coast on Oct 22.
-- Hurricane Wilma poses no immediate threat to Mexico's main
oil-producing region, the Sound of Campeche, a source at state-owned
Pemex said on Oct 19. The area currently in danger from the
hurricane is the tourist region around Cancun on the Yucatan
peninsula, the source said.
-- Some companies were taking precautions despite Wilma's
projected path. BP on Oct 19 said that it had begun the evacuations
of non-essential workers from its offshore installations in the
eastern and central Gulf of Mexico ahead of Wilma.
-- Florida petroleum marketers are seeking an extension of a
low-sulfur diesel waiver ahead of anticipated shortages if Hurricane
Wilma hits the state, Jim Smith, president of the Florida Petroleum
Marketers and Convenience Store Association, said on Oct 19.
-- The joint venture Lyondell-Citgo refinery in Houston will
operate at 30-50% of its 268,000 b/d capacity until mid- to late-
November due to equipment problems in the aftermath of a Hurricane
Rita-related shutdown and last weekend's explosion at the plant's
fluid catalytic cracker, Lyondell said on Oct 19.
-- Shell has brought into service a pipeline connection between
the Chevron-operated Empire-Fourchon 20-inch crude line and the
Shell-operated Mars 24-inch crude line, the major said. The Fourchon-Mars
link is aimed at providing producers of Heavy Louisiana Sweet crude
in the Gulf an option to return some supply to the market, industry
sources close to the project told Platts. Until recently, most HLS
production from various platforms and satelite fields in the Gulf of
Mexico remained shut-in after the passing of Hurricane Katrina and
then Hurricane Rita.
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