All Eyes on Hurricane Earl Along Atlantic Coast

Vacationers are not the only ones with their eye on Hurricane Earl. U.S. and East Coast oil refineries are watching updates and are preparing for the onset of the Hurricane since it has shifted west and will be affecting the Northeast US and Canadian Atlantic areas. Currently the storm is a major category 4 on the Saffir – Simpson scale which means evacuations, flooding, and damage can be expected in the area.

As a category 4 storm, Earl is packing winds of 135 miles per hour (217 km per hour) and is heading northwest from the path that took it through Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The main core of Hurricane Earl will stay off the coast, but its winds will have a major impact to the coast line especially for those traveling for the Labor Day Holiday. How much the Hurricane will affect expected travel is unsure. The tourist industry had been optimistic with some areas along the coast reporting an increase in reservations that would prove to be the best in seven years. This could have impact on how much the gasoline reserves are tapped for there was a hope that many would be traveling and buying gas to get there.

Earl is expected to reach the Pennsylvania and New Jersey area and Canada’s Atlantic region this weekend. U.S. East Coast’s refinery operations are operating at 1.136 million barrels per day.
The Bayway refinery in Linden, New Jersey operated by Conoco Philips Corporation is currently producing 238,000 barrels per day. They also operate a 190,000 barrel a day plant in Trainer, Pennsylvania. Sonoco, Inc. runs 335,000 barrels per day and 178,000 barrels per day refineries at the Philadelphia and Marcus Hook refineries respectively. Valero Corporation operates a 195,000 barrels per day refinery in Paulsboro, NC.

In the Atlantic Provence of Newfoundland the staff of North Atlantic Refining which operates at 115,000 barrels per day said they were closely monitoring the storm as is the 82,000 barrel per day refinery in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia run by Imperial Oil. The largest Canadian refinery in St John, Brunswick is Irving Oil which operates 250,000 barrels per day and is expected to be impacted less than others according to the current path of Hurricane Earl with the storm expected to downgrade to a tropical storm by then.

Storm forecasters are stressing they can only make predictions of possible models of the impact of Earl and what will happen with the strength of the storm. They do have a margin of error of 100 miles and a small shift can make a major difference on what areas are hit and to what extent. Evacuations are in effect for the Outer Banks area of North Carolina and those in Cape Cod, Long Island and Boston are making preparations before the storm arrives.

“A small error of 100 miles in the wrong direction could be a huge impact difference,” National Hurricane Center Director Bill Read reported. “Even a minor shift back to the west could bring impacts to portions of the coastline from the mid-Atlantic northwards.”

The Storm spared the huge 500,000 barrel per day Hovensa refinery in St Croix as it went over the area on Monday. "The refinery is in operation today and remained in operation yesterday despite high winds and periodic heavy rain resulting from hurricane Earl passing north of St. Croix," said spokesman Alex Moorhead on Tuesday.

Hurricane Earl is gaining attention from storm watchers, oil refinery officials, the tourism industry, gas and oil investors, insurance companies and investors, residents along its path, and literally millions of tourists already on the coast or those that had planned to travel there. From South Carolina all the way up to the Canadian Atlantic area will be impacted. Forecasts keep warning that there can be a slight change at any time and how much Earl decides to visit inland can mean the difference between millions of dollars and even lives lost.