HOUSTON, March 24 (Reuters) - The U.S. Coast Guard saidreopening the Houston Ship Channel to commerce was one of theagency's goals for Monday as it leads the cleanup of an oilspill in Galveston Bay along the Texas coast of the Gulf ofMexico.
The Houston Ship Channel was shut on Saturday following acollision between a Kirby Inland Marine oil barge and a cargoship, spilling some 4,000 barrels, or 168,000 gallons (636,000liters), of residual fuel oil. The channel allows oil barges andcargo ships to sail from the Gulf Coast to refiners andterminals further inland.
More than a tenth of U.S. refining capacity receives crudeoil through the Houston Ship Channel system that runs to theport of Houston, Texas City and Galveston, Texas. (Reporting by Erwin Seba, Editing by Franklin Paul)