Energy sector gets power back on

Houston Chronicle:

Major oil companies are expecting to get back to normal in the Gulf Coast region following Hurricane Ike's fury as more gas stations open and the post-Ike demand starts to wane.

For now the demand for gas remains high and some gas stations on Thursday were running dry hours after being restocked.

Shell Oil Co. reported that 70 percent of its company-branded stations were open in Houston and Beaumont - more than 360 of the total. Valero Energy opened nearly 20 more for a total of 109 and more than 60 percent of the region's Chevron stations were back in business.

``We are hopeful the fuel supply at Shell-branded stations in Houston and Beaumont will return to normal sometime this weekend, assuming power continues to be restored,'' Shell said.

Meanwhile, power was restored Thursday to several more of the 14 refineries that shut down before Ike slammed ashore last weekend.

Marathon Oil Corp.'s Texas City plant regained full power, while BP's Texas City facility - the nation's second-largest, with capacity to produce more than 460,000 barrels of fuel a day - regained power for its critical processing units. Exxon Mobil's Beaumont refinery also regained grid power.

That puts them a few steps behind at least four others that have already begun restarting. These include Exxon Mobil's Baytown complex, the nation's largest, and other refineries owned by Valero Energy, ConocoPhillips and Shell. The startup process can take a week or more.

...

I think much of the demand has been for gas to drive to out lying areas so that people can buy groceries and other items. I did notice someone with a flatbed truck selling generators a couple of days ago on a trip through Conroe which was still mostly dark. They of course need gas to operate too.

Getting the refineries back up is also good news for the rest of the country on gas prices since it will boost supply.

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