Oil rises on concern refineries to shut longer than expected

Crude oil and
gasoline futures rose for a second day in New York on speculation that
hurricane- damaged refineries near the Texas-Louisiana border may be shut longer than expected, straining U.S. fuel supplies.

Valero Energy Corp., the nation’s largest refiner, said its Port
Arthur, Texas, plant may be closed for as long as four weeks. Six other
refineries may stay closed because of a lack of power and damage from
winds or flooding. Oil production in the Gulf of Mexico was completely
shut after Hurricane Rita swept through the area on Sept. 24.

“There’s probably one or two more hurricanes on their way that will
come in the next two to three weeks in America,” said Ong Eng Tong, a
Singapore-based consultant for German oil trading Mabanaft
International GmbH.

Why is it that mainstream media is just now catching on to the refinery damage when this was obvious to anyone reading TheOilDrum
as far back as Saturday? All the info was already out there, but
mainstream media was too busy whistling in the dark to report it,
I guess.

They did the same with Katrina. The day after, the reports were all
perky and chipper, gee the damage wasn’t too bad was it. Then, a day
later, oh, New Orleans is flooded, isn’t it?

It’s not just refinery damage from Rita, the news from the
Texas/Louisiana border is grim indeed, and quite different from the
initial smiley face reports

The hurricane slammed low-lying fishing villages, shrimping ports and ranches with water up to 9 feet deep. Seawater pushed as far as 20 miles inland, drowning acres of rice, sugarcane fields and pasture.

P.S. From Beaumont, Texas

County Judge Carl Griffith said today he has become so frustrated with the federal relief effort that he has instructed all local officials to use police force if they have to to take supplies from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

“If you have enough policemen to take it from them, take it,” Griffith said.