(Adds oil prices, Exxon, ports prepare for storm)
By Liz Hampton
Sept 13 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell on Monday
began evacuating staff from a U.S. Gulf of Mexico oil platform,
and other energy companies began preparing for hurricane-force
winds from a second Gulf Coast storm in as many weeks.
Tropical Storm Nicholas was off the southern coast of Texas
on Monday and moving north with winds of 60 miles per hour (97
kph) and could become a hurricane just ahead of landfall,
according to the National Hurricane Center.
Nicholas is the second cyclone to threaten the U.S. Gulf
Coast energy complex this month. Hurricane Ida wreaked havoc on
oil production and refining facilities in late August and early
September.
Almost half of U.S. Gulf oil output remained offline
following Ida. Shell on Monday began evacuating non-essential
personnel from its Perdido platform, which was unaffected by
Ida. It was continuing to assess damages to its West Delta-143
facility, a major transfer station for three major oilfields
that remain offline.
PORTS BATTEN DOWN
Shippers were warned of hurricane-force winds at oil export
ports on the Texas coast. The Port of Corpus Christi could see
hurricane force winds in the next day, the U.S. Coast Guard
said.
The Coast Guard ordered vessels in the Texas ports of
Houston, Galveston, Texas City and Freeport to cease cargo
transfers if winds reach 40 mph. It barred inbound transit of
500 gross tons and greater vessels at all four.
Refiners also began making preparations for the storm.
Phillips 66 refineries in Sweeney, Texas, and Lake
Charles, Louisiana, activated their hurricane plans, and Exxon
Mobil prepped its Baytown and Beaumont, Texas,
petrochemical complexes for severe weather.
U.S. crude futures were up about 1% on Monday to $70.38 a
barrel, while gasoline futures were roughly flat at
$2.1572 a gallon.
Waves nearing 13 feet in height were reported outside of
Port Aransas, near Corpus Christi, with wind gusts up to 54
miles per hour about 40 miles east of Padre Island, according to
the National Weather Service.
Oil imports and exports face delays from Nicholas. Vessels
that were unable to load or discharge during Ida could be
rerouted again, shippers said.
The first supertanker scheduled to load at the Louisiana
Offshore Oil Port (LOOP), the largest U.S. privately owned
terminal for crude exports and imports, has yet to load,
according to Refinitiv Eikon vessel tracking.
(Reporting by Liz Hampton in Denver, Marianna Parraga in
Houston, and Arpan Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Alex
Richardson and Steve Orlofsky)