Firms operating more than 5.4mn b/d of refining capacity in Texas reported reductions or shutdowns from late on 14 February. Natural gas curtailments affected some power supplies in electrical grids covering the midcontinent and Gulf coast and drove up prices for industrial users in those regions. Refiners representing at least 3.4mn b/d of capacity have made public plans to restore pre-storm processing rates in early March. This includes Saudi Aramco-owned Motiva’s 603,000 b/d Port Arthur refinery, the single largest US facility. Close to 750,000 b/d of refining capacity in Corpus Christi - at the mouth of major pipelines moving Permian production to waterborne markets - is already restarting.
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