March 17, 2011 [OPIS] - About 12% or 1 million bbl of petroleum capacity remains down late on Thursday at Kinder Morgan's 7.833-million-bbl-capacity oil products terminal in Carteret, N.J., due to a fire three days ago, a company spokeswoman told OPIS.
However, the entire petroleum capacity may return to full service “shortly,” she added. The spokeswoman declined to provide a timetable for full resumption of normal service at the terminal.
The entire petroleum capacity at the terminal was shut on Monday, and most of it, except for the 1 million bbl of capacity, resumed service on Tuesday.Chemical capacity was not affected.
The impact on customers’ inventories is minimal, but customers would need to make up for the scheduling delay over the several days.
A trader said that the reduced operable capacity at the New York Harbor trading hub did not have a significant impact on products cash prices or supplies. Tenants at the terminal continued to offer supplies.
There is no impact on loading docks at the terminal or pipeline operations. Traders said that a majority or more than 90% of the storage capacity at the Carteret terminal is used for oil.
The Carteret terminal has 280 storage tanks, with individual tank capacity ranging from 2,000 to 260,000 bbl.
The Carteret terminal, which serves the New York Harbor market, receives products from Colonial, Harbor and Sunoco pipelines, and it delivers to Buckeye and Colonial pipelines.