Kinder Morgan eyes Oct. 1 restart of Central Florida refined products pipeline shut due to Ian

Kinder Morgan is looking to restart its Central Florida Pipeline system on Oct. 1, which would allow gasoline, diesel and jet fuel to be delivered to Orlando from Tampa, the company said Sept. 30.

The 110-mile pipeline was closed Sept. 29 after Hurricane Ian swept across Florida, causing the company to close several terminals.

"Depending on inspections and assessments from aerial and foot patrols throughout the day, we are targeting to restart the Central Florida Pipeline system" on Oct. 1, Kinder Morgan spokesperson Melissa Ruiz said.

The Central Florida Pipeline moves gasoline and denatured ethanol via a 16-inch line and diesel and jet fuel via an 18-inch line.

While Kinder Morgan's Tampa terminal was operating by late Sept. 29, the "Orlando terminal was impacted by severe flooding, and inspectors are still underway at that facility," Ruiz said. "We do expect to have some limited truck loading capacity at Orlando" by the evening of Sept. 30, she said, with "additional loading racks back online" the following day.

"Assessments and inspections continue at our Port Manatee, Port Sutton and Tampaplex terminals throughout the day. We are working with our customers to ramp up service by later this evening" or Oct. 1, Ruiz said. Kinder also expects to resume service at its Charleston, South Carolina, area terminals by Oct. 1.

Hurricane Ian made landfall in South Carolina Sept. 30, and is expected to weaken while it moves inland into central North Carolina by Oct. 1, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The hurricane caused widespread power outages in Florida, causing retail gasoline station outages. PowerOutage.us showed close to 2 million customers were without power in Florida at around 9 am ET on Sept. 30, down from 2.8 million the prior day.

US President Joe Biden Sept. 30 highlighted federal government efforts to restore power.

"I have ordered more than 400 personnel from the US Army Corp of Engineers of Florida with more than 250 generators to enable power supplies in key locations like hospitals and shelters," Biden said at a press briefing. "And last night, my Homeland Security advisor met with electric sector leaders to make sure they're coordinating with owners and operators of the grid so nothing stands in the way of getting the power back on."

According to GasBuddy, the bulk of the retail outages are on Florida's west coast, with roughly 34% of Petersburg stations offline early Sept. 30.

Florida depends on waterborne refined products, as there are no refineries in the state. But shippers are ready to move supply into Florida once ports are reopened.

Most ports still closed

Most Florida ports remained closed Sept. 30, according to the US Coast Guard. The Tampa Bay port was looking to reopen to ship traffic early Oct. 1, a port official said.

"Operators report that there are over 25 domestic vessels that are expected to call on Florida ports with deliveries once the ports are reopened by the Coast Guard," according to a Sept. 28 statement from the American Maritime Partnership. "These vessels are carrying critical cargoes, including over 220 million gallons of fuel, among other cargo."

No fuel waivers were issued by the US Environmental Protection Agency as of Sept. 30, nor were any Jones Act waivers issued for Florida. On Sept. 28, the US Department of Homeland Security issued a temporary Jones Act waiver to allow non-US flagged vessels to supply fuel to Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricane Fiona.

As Ian makes its way north, Colonial Pipeline, the largest refined products pipeline in the US, running from Texas to New Jersey, is monitoring the storm.

"We are closely monitoring the forecast to ensure we are well prepared as Hurricane Ian tracks up the East Coast," said Colonial Pipeline spokesperson Meredith Stone in a Sept. 29 email.

"While no impacts to the system are expected, Colonial teams are taking actions to lessen potential impacts, including preparing facilities along the storm's projected path," she said.