Industry, government seen better prepared for 2018 hurricane season

May 22, 2018
Governments at every level and all parts of the US oil and gas industry have learned from past extreme weather events and are better prepared for the 2018 Atlantic Hurricane Season, officials from six national trade associations generally agreed on May 22. 

Governments at every level and all parts of the US oil and gas industry have learned from past extreme weather events and are better prepared for the 2018 Atlantic Hurricane Season, officials from six national trade associations generally agreed on May 22. Supply responses following Hurricane Harvey in 2017 were good, but some problems emerged that need to be addressed, they said.

“The safety of our workforce and the environment is paramount when preparing and responding to hurricanes. Further, ensuring a flexible and resilient energy infrastructure is critical to supplying consumers with the energy they need and demand every day,” said Suzanne Lemieux, midstream and industry operations manager at the American Petroleum Institute.

To prepare and respond to weather events, API works with federal, state, and local first-responders and government officials through its state councils as well as from Washington to help promote safety and restore normal operations following a major storm, Lemieux said during a teleconference.

“There are standard calls that happen before and during a major storm. Typically, these are led by the US Department of Energy that coordinates not only with the companies but also area utilities,” Lemieux said. “There are processes in place for DOE to contact companies, but we also have to respect federal antitrust rules that restrict what we can share. DOE shares that information through [the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s] National Emergency Response Center.”

Officials from the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, National Ocean Industries Association, American Gas Association, and Petroleum Marketers of America also participated in the teleconference.

Government agencies also have learned from past experience and work better together during emergencies, INGAA Security, Reliability and Resilience Director Rebecca Massello observed. But PMAA Vice-Pres. Sherri Stone said products had trouble reaching Florida following Hurricanes Harvey and Irma in 2017 because of delays passing through unaffected states.

“We’ve been working with government agencies to make sure there are no delays at way stations in pass-through states. There’s a lot of attention being paid to that,” Stone said.

Preparation paid off in 2017

“The refining and petrochemical industry maintains safety preparedness whether there’s a hurricane threat or not,” said AFPM Security and Risk Management Director Jeff Gunnulfsen. “Industry coordination during Hurricanes Harvey and Irma this past year was good largely because of this preparation. This helped our members obtain waivers and give critical access to personnel to restore operations.”

Massello said, “The gas industry has a proven track record of reliability and safety. That was proven during the most recent hurricane season. There are several reasons: The pipeline infrastructure is mostly underground. There are redundancies of supplies because we’ve moved away from supplies on the Gulf Coast to resources in other parts of the country. There also are both gas-fired and electric compressors so that if the electric units can’t run, the gas-fired ones can to keep the pressure up and the gas flowing.”

AGA Operations and Engineering Services Director Mike Bellman said gas utilities also have a proven record of reliability because their distribution systems are predominantly underground. “Our members also position equipment and personnel before any weather emergency,” he said. “AGA also conducts table-top exercises of the Mutual Assistance Program every 2 years, but it was not needed following Hurricanes Harvey and Irma because local utilities were able to restore service on their own.”

NOIA Senior Government and Political Affairs Director Tim Charters said, “Despite the frequency and intensity of hurricanes and tropical storms in 2017, there were no reported deaths or injuries among offshore workers, no reported damage to offshore facilities, and no reported spills. This is a testament to how well the offshore industry prepares for and responds to hurricanes.”

Charters also warned that continuing to restrict US offshore oil and gas activity to the central and western Gulf of Mexico will keep the country vulnerable to disruptions from hurricanes and other severe storms. “If we were to expand our production and operations to other places, we won’t face the question each year of whether we can keep them up and running. We also need to address infrastructure constraints that inhibit our ability to move oil and products around the country,” he said.

Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].