Port of Houston re-opens to all tranker traffic after winter storm

The Port of Houston re-opened to all tanker traffic midday on Jan. 22 after shutting down Jan. 20 as an arctic blast that affected much of the US gripped Southeast Texas and other Gulf Coast states.

The Port of Houston was among several USGC ports that receive and export crude oil, refined products and chemicals, as well as other energy products, that shut down on Jan. 20 or early Jan. 21 as frigid weather spread across a region that rarely sees sustained subfreezing temperatures. The port re-opened for tankers, and its pair of container terminals were slated to resume normal operations the evening of Jan. 22, the port announced.

Houston is home to the second-largest petrochemical port in the world behind Rotterdam and the second US crude oil export route behind the Port of Corpus Christi.

Corpus Christi began re-opening Jan. 21 by allowing most outbound ships to move at midday, followed by most inbound ships in mid-afternoon. Inbound and outbound movements of Very Large Crude Carriers remained restricted in the afternoon of Jan. 21, as smaller ships were on the move.

Other ports remained shut Jan. 22, with the potential to reopen as temperatures rose above freezing. The Sabine-Neches Waterway, home to the ports of Port Arthur, Orange and Beaumont in Southeast Texas, and the Port of Lake Charles, Louisiana, aimed to review road conditions and possible ship movements the afternoon of Jan. 22.

Bunker operations at Houston and New Orleans ports were halted Jan. 21, according to market sources, who were unsure when operations would restart.

According to the National Weather Service, subfreezing temperatures and wind chills took hold the evening of Jan. 20, bringing 4-6 inches of snow, sleet and freezing rain to parts of the Houston area and Southeast Texas. The storm spread further east along the Gulf Coast and into the US Southeast in addition to the US Midwest, east of the Rocky Mountains, and the US East Coast.

While some USGC areas still had temperatures close to freezing on Jan. 22, temperatures in the Houston area were expected to surpass 40 degrees Fahrenheit by midday as the storm had moved further east.

Pilots -- those who navigate ship movements -- at affected ports were expected to monitor conditions and re-open those facilities to ship traffic when deemed safe to do so.