The Houston Ship Channel, which serves the largest US petroleum port, opened for inbound tankers and all outbound traffic after crews lowered the damaged electrical tower that closed the waterway, the Coast Guard said.
The channel allowed exiting vessels to move at 2.30 am local time, Brook Milstead, a petty officer with the US Coast Guard, said.
The waterway opened to deep draft vessels, such as crude oil tankers, entering the channel at 7.03 am local time, and about seven are expected to pass through the channel in the next three to four hours, he said.
A four-mile stretch of the channel connecting the Gulf of Mexico to the Port of Houston was closed on Sunday when a barge under tow struck the tower, which supported power lines crossing the waterway.
Tankers use the channel to deliver crude oil to refineries in the Houston-Texas City-Baytown area that make up about 13 per cent of US refining capacity, said Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates LLC in Houston.
CenterPoint Energy Inc, which owns the tower, yesterday finished lowering the structure and removing its power lines, said Leticia Lowe, a spokeswoman.
Tankers bound for four refineries will be given priority once the shipping lanes reopen, according to Marcus Woodring, the Coast Guard's Houston and Galveston sector commander.
Valero Energy Corp's Houston refinery, Royal Dutch Shell plc's Deer Park plant, Pasadena Refining Systems Inc's refinery and LyondellBasell Industries NV's 268,000-barrel-a-day plant may be affected by the delay, Mr Woodring said. Shell said it will need two crude shipments and Valero said one shipment was needed by yesterday, according to Mr Woodring.
Downstream operations at Shell and its joint venture Motiva Enterprises LLC, including the Deer Park and Port Arthur plants, aren't affected, said Ted Rolfvondenbaumen, a Shell spokesman.
Pasadena Refining wasn't expecting any crude shipments until after the ship channel was projected to reopen and the closure of the channel won't affect plant operations, said Sophie Gates, a Houston-based spokeswoman for Petroleo Brasileiro SA, said. The Pasadena refinery is operated by a unit of Rio De Janeiro-based company.
The delay in opening the shipping channel isn't expected to have 'any adverse impact to our refining operations,' said David Harpole, a spokesman for Lyondell, which can receive crude oil shipments at locations other than refinery docks.
The channel allowed exiting vessels to move at 2.30 am local time, Brook Milstead, a petty officer with the US Coast Guard, said.
The waterway opened to deep draft vessels, such as crude oil tankers, entering the channel at 7.03 am local time, and about seven are expected to pass through the channel in the next three to four hours, he said.
A four-mile stretch of the channel connecting the Gulf of Mexico to the Port of Houston was closed on Sunday when a barge under tow struck the tower, which supported power lines crossing the waterway.
Tankers use the channel to deliver crude oil to refineries in the Houston-Texas City-Baytown area that make up about 13 per cent of US refining capacity, said Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates LLC in Houston.
CenterPoint Energy Inc, which owns the tower, yesterday finished lowering the structure and removing its power lines, said Leticia Lowe, a spokeswoman.
Tankers bound for four refineries will be given priority once the shipping lanes reopen, according to Marcus Woodring, the Coast Guard's Houston and Galveston sector commander.
Valero Energy Corp's Houston refinery, Royal Dutch Shell plc's Deer Park plant, Pasadena Refining Systems Inc's refinery and LyondellBasell Industries NV's 268,000-barrel-a-day plant may be affected by the delay, Mr Woodring said. Shell said it will need two crude shipments and Valero said one shipment was needed by yesterday, according to Mr Woodring.
Downstream operations at Shell and its joint venture Motiva Enterprises LLC, including the Deer Park and Port Arthur plants, aren't affected, said Ted Rolfvondenbaumen, a Shell spokesman.
Pasadena Refining wasn't expecting any crude shipments until after the ship channel was projected to reopen and the closure of the channel won't affect plant operations, said Sophie Gates, a Houston-based spokeswoman for Petroleo Brasileiro SA, said. The Pasadena refinery is operated by a unit of Rio De Janeiro-based company.
The delay in opening the shipping channel isn't expected to have 'any adverse impact to our refining operations,' said David Harpole, a spokesman for Lyondell, which can receive crude oil shipments at locations other than refinery docks.