Citgo Corp News

The U.S. Coast Guard failed in its weekend attempt to reopen the Lake Charles, Louisiana, ship channel to all ships including large crude oil tankers, a spokesman said. The Coast Guard will now dismantle the sunken dry dock that has since mid-June stopped crude tankers getting to two big Gulf Coast refineries served by the channel. Work will start on Wednesday and take three to four weeks. Currently large crude vessels still cannot get to Conoco Inc.'s 243,000 bpd Lake Charles plant and Venezuelan-owned Citgo Corp.'s 310,000 bpd plant, the spokesman said.

The U.S. Coast Guard will attempt to reopen the Lake Charles, Louisiana, ship channel to all ships including large crude oil tankers on Saturday, a spokesman said. The Coast Guard will attempt to refloat the sunken dry dock that has since mid-June stopped crude tankers getting to two big Gulf Coast refineries served by the channel. An initial refloat attempt was set for July 3, but work was delayed by mechanical problems. All shipping will be stopped through the channel early on Saturday morning to allow work to go ahead. Currently large crude vessels still cannot get to Conoco Inc.'s 243,000 bpd Lake Charles plant and Citgo Corp.'s 310,000 bpd plant, the spokesman said.

The U.S. Coast Guard has removed the sunken drydock that has been blocking the Lake Charles, Louisiana, ship channel to large crude oil tankers, a spokesman said. "All sections of the sunken drydock have been removed from the Calcasieu River," the spokesman said. "The Army Corps of Engineers is conducting surveys to determine the need for additional dredging to return the channel to its project depth," he added. Until complete restoration of the channel, the Lake Charles pilots will be evaluating the navigable channel to determine beam and draft restrictions for safe passage, it added. The sunken dry dock had since mid-June stopped crude tankers getting to Conoco Inc.'s 243,000 bpd Lake Charles plant and Venezuelan-owned Citgo Corp.'s 310,000 bpd plant.