Oil Fields Workers-- Texas and Louisiana under Evacuation

Published Sep 22, 2005 12:01 AM by The Maritime Executive

With rig workers already evacuated from the Gulf of Mexico, millions of Texans and Louisianans gridlock exit routes as Hurricane Rita barrels down on the Gulf States.

Rita could threaten up to 18 Texas oil refineries that have a combined capacity of 4 million barrels per day or 23 percent of the nation's total refining capacity. Texas has 26 refineries, with 18 located near the Gulf coastline.

Dave Costello of the Energy Information Administration said that if Rita stays on its current course toward Texas, it may not cause damage to undersea pipelines.

Rita, with maximum sustained winds of 170 mph is ``potentially catastrophic,'' the National Hurricane Center said. The storm is forecast to hit land near Galveston, Texas, late tomorrow or early Sept. 24. Rita's center was 490 miles southeast of Galveston, and moving west-northwest at close to 9 mph.

Exxon Mobil, shut its Baytown refinery in Texas, according to state air regulators. The Baytown refinery is the biggest in the U.S., processing 557,000 barrels of oil a day. The Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission posted the shutdown on its Web site.