Petrochemicals company Sasol says manufacturing facilities at its Lake Charles Chemicals Complex, in the US, remain shut down as a result of Hurricane Laura.
The group last week activated its inclement weather protocols at the complex, in preparation for Hurricane Laura, which made landfall near the project on August 27.
Part of the response was to temporarily shut down facilities at Lake Charles, as well as Greens Bayou and Winnie, Texas.
The storm resulted in widespread electrical blackouts and other damage, preventing Sasol from operating most utility systems.
High-voltage transmission line corridors into the Lake Charles area are damaged and the full assessment is still in progress by a local power company, the group reports.
Further, an operations recovery crew have started the damage assessment process at the Lake Charles site and early reports indicate that there was no apparent damage to process equipment and no flooding damage as a result of storm surge.
However, the high wind speeds caused damage to the cooling towers at the complex, while other Sasol manufacturing operations in Greens Bayou and Winnie were not impacted by the storm.
The startup of the plants will depend on the availability of electricity, industrial gases, other feedstocks and the restoration process.
Sasol does not envisage that the hurricane will have an adverse impact on any potential divestment transaction related to Sasol’s base chemical portfolio in the US, the group points out.