Entergy estimates power restoration timelines post-Ida

Entergy, the main power provider for the Louisiana region hit by Hurricane Ida, on Sept. 3 released a list of estimated power restoration times for some parishes and cities, including some home to shut petrochemical plants.

Entergy said more estimates will be released in the coming days, and all could change as the company's damage assessments continue.

Parishes on the list include Iberville and West Baton Rouge Sept. 3, East Baton Rouge Sept. 6 and parts of Ascension Sept. 7.

Iberville Parish includes Plaquemine, St. Gabriel and Carville, where Dow Chemical, Shintech, Westlake Chemical, Olin, CosMar and Total Energies operate affected units.

East Baton Rouge Parish includes Shintech's Addis complex, while East Baton Rouge Parish includes ExxonMobil's refining and chemical complex and Formosa Plastics USA's operations. ExxonMobil on Aug. 31 said the company had begun restarting its complex.

Ascension Parish includes Geismar, which is home to plants operated by Shell Chemical, Westlake, NOVA Chemicals, Methanex and OxyChem, the chemical division of Occidental Petroleum.

Dow said that the company expects to begin bringing its Plaquemine operations back online the week of Sept. 6, prioritizing startups based on utility balances and raw material availability.

The US Coast Guard also has established a safety zone near the Huey P. Long Bridge in New Orleans because of a downed electricity transmission tower and heavy-gauge transmission lines in the Mississippi River. Vessels must obtain permission from the captain of the Port of New Orleans to move through the area, which market sources said will slow any such movement until salvage operations are complete.

However, most affected petrochemical plants upriver remained shut Sept. 3, awaiting restoration of electric power, inflows of industrial gas feedstocks, or both. Initial assessments largely found no significant damage from the storm, but producers need power to fully check systems.

Here is a rundown of plants affected by Ida:

RESTARTS

Baton Rouge

SHUTDOWNS

Baton Rouge:

• Formosa Plastics USA: 513,000 mt/year PVC; 653,000 mt/year vinyl chloride monomer

Plaquemine:

• Dow Chemical: 1 million mt/year and 500,000 mt/year crackers; 750,000 mt/year HDPE; 184,000 mt/year and 350,000 mt/year LDPE; 544,000 mt/year LLDPE
• Shintech: 500,000 mt/year cracker; 600,000 mt/year PVC; 1.77 million mt/year VCM; 2 million mt/year ethylene dichloride; 1.16 million mt/year chlorine; 1.28 million mt/year caustic soda
• Westlake Chemical: 861,826 mt/year PVC; 725,747 mt/year VCM; 1.15 million mt/year EDC; 426,376 mt/year chlorine; 453,592 mt/year caustic soda
• Olin: 850,000 mt/year chlorine; 934,066 mt/year caustic soda

Addis

• Shintech: 900,000 mt/year PVC

Geismar

• Westlake Chemical: 520,000 mt/year PVC; 625,000 mt/year EDC; 317,514 mt/year chlorine; 349,266 mt/year caustic soda
• NOVA Chemical: 977,000 mt/year cracker
• OxyChem: 315,000 mt/year EDC; 353,000 mt/year chlorine; 387,912 mt/year caustic soda
• Methanex: Two methanol units, each 1 million mt/year
• Shell Chemical: 375,000 mt/year ethylene glycols

Convent

• OxyChem: 613,000 mt/year EDC; 353,000 mt/year chlorine; 387,912 mt/year caustic soda

Taft

• Dow Chemical: Two crackers, 635,000 mt/year and $365,000 mt/year; 750,000 mt/year HDPE; 800,000 mt/year LLDPE
• OxyChem: 680,000 mt/year chlorine; 747,252 mt/year caustic soda

Norco

• Shell Chemical: 625,000 mt/year and 930,000 mt/year crackers; 265,351 mt/year butadiene

St. Gabriel

• Olin: 250,000 mt/year chlorine; 274,725 mt/year caustic soda

Garyville

• Pinnacle Polymers: 430,000 mt/year PP

Carville

• CosMar: Two styrene units, each 579,000 mt/year
• Total Energies, 660,000 mt/year polystyrene

St. James

• YCI: Methanol unit, 1.7 million mt/year
• Americas Styrenics, two lines, 499,000 mt/year and 453,000 mt/year

St. Louis Bay, Mississippi

• DAK Americas, 430,000 mt/year PET

FORCE MAJEURES

• Pinnacle Polymers: Declared Aug. 30 for all products due to impacts of the storm.
• OxyChem: Declared Aug. 30 on water treatment products marketed under ACL, Towerbrom and Towerchlor brands, as well as cyanuric acid.
• DAK Americas: Declared Aug. 30 on PET.
• OxyChem: Declared Aug. 31 for chlorine, caustic soda, ethylene dichloride, sulfuric acid, potassium hydroxide, methylene chloride, chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, perchoroethylene
• Westlake Chemical: Declared Aug. 31 for PVC and VCM.
• Shintech: Declared Sept. 1 for caustic soda.
• Westlake Chemical: Declared Sept. 2 for caustic soda.

PRICES

• US spot export MEG prices were assessed up 1 cent/lb on the week Sept. 3 at 33-34 cents/lb FOB USG.
• US spot ethylene prices were assessed up 11.75 cents on the week Sept. 3 to be assessed at 60 cents/lb FD Choctaw, while the FD Mont Belvieu marker ended the week at 48 cents/lb, up 9 cents/lb from Aug. 27.