Kinder Morgan closes Tampa terminals ahead of Hurricane Milton

Pipeline and liquid and dry bulk terminal operator Kinder Morgan plans to close its terminals and fuel racks in and around Tampa on Tuesday as Florida prepares for Category 5 Hurricane Milton to make landfall Wednesday night.

“We will continue to monitor the path of the storm and make any adjustments as necessary,” Kinder Morgan said in a statement reported by the Argus.

On Monday, Milton reached a Category 5 hurricane, and Florida’s Gulf Coast ordered evacuations as the storm is expected to make landfall late Wednesday or early Thursday.

“Milton has the potential to be one of the most destructive hurricanes on record for west-central Florida,” the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Tuesday morning.

“Milton poses an extremely serious threat to Florida, and residents are urged to follow the orders of local officials,” the NHC said.

Ahead of the landing, Kinder Morgan is now closing its terminals in the area, which include Tampa Bay Stevedores, Tampaplex Terminal and Port Sutton Terminal. They deal in fertilizers, scrap iron, petroleum coke and coal.

The company’s Tampa Refinery Terminal is connected to the Central Florida Pipeline (CFPL) which carries gasoline, diesel, ethanol and jet fuel to Orlando, including Orlando International Airport.

Florida ports have moved to restrict ship navigation as Hurricane Milton intensifies as it heads up the state’s coast.

On Monday, Chevron said it had shut down its Blind Faith platform in the US Gulf of Mexico and evacuated all personnel from the facility in preparation for Hurricane Milton.

“Production from our other Chevron-operated Gulf of Mexico assets remains at normal levels,” Chevron said in a media update as weather services, forecasters and Gulf of Mexico producers track Hurricane Milton’s path.

Producers in the US Gulf of Mexico have shut down some rigs and been producing in recent weeks ahead of other tropical storms and hurricanes in the area.

Just two weeks ago, Hurricane Helene spared oil and gas rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, but devastated areas of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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