Heavy rain, wind expected in Houston from Beryl: Update

Tropical storm Beryl is expected to regain hurricane strength before coming ashore near Matagorda, Texas, early Monday, bringing heavy rain and wind to the Houston area.

As of 8pm ET Sunday, the center of the storm was about 120 miles east-southeast of Corpus Christi, Texas, with maximum sustained winds of 70mph, moving northwest at 12mph, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).

The storm track forecast has shifted to the north of Corpus Christi, likely sparing that city's refining and oil export industries from the most severe conditions, although Citgo said its 165,000 b/d Corpus Christi refinery is running at reduced rates as part of its hurricane preparedness plan.

Peak storm surge of 4-7ft is expected between Matagorda Bay and San Luis Pass, including at Freeport, home to a number of petrochemical plants and an LNG export terminal. Galveston Bay, which includes numerous refineries and oil export terminals along the Houston Ship Channel and Texas City, is expected to see 4-6ft of storm surge.

The ports of Houston, Galveston, Freeport and Texas City were closed to all traffic at 5pm ET Sunday, according to the US Coast Guard. The Port of Corpus Christi has been closed since Saturday afternoon.

US Gulf coast refiners appear to have robust fuel inventories for this time of year should the storm lead to operational issues. The four-week average of Gulf coast gasoline inventories in the week ended 28 June was up by over 4pc from the same period in 2023 and up by 6pc from 2022, after hitting a near six-month high in the penultimate week of June.

Residents and businesses in the Houston area may see power outages Monday from the high winds, according to local emergency management officials. Rainfall is expected to range between 6-10 inches with 15 inches in some isolated areas, according to NHC.

Little oil, gas production disruption

Disruptions to US Gulf of Mexico oil and gas operations appear to be limited given Beryl's approach to the west of most US offshore oil and gas operations, although some platforms were evacuated late last week. Chevron said it has already started to send non-essential workers who were evacuated back to offshore facilities.

Mexican offshore operations were halted late last week when the storm first entered the Gulf after passing over the Yucatan Peninsula.

Early last week Beryl was a Category 5 storm, which made it the strongest on record for the month of July, as it left a trail of destruction in the Caribbean.

The second named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, Beryl followed tropical storm Alberto, which came ashore in northeastern Mexico late last month. This year's Atlantic hurricane season is expected to be more active than normal, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, with 4-7 major hurricanes that pack sustained winds of 111mph or higher possible.

By Tom Fowler, Nathan Risser and Stephen Cunningham