Winter Storm Indigo – Code Orange

Winter Storm Indigo brought cold temperatures and heavy snowfall to states across the Midwest, Northeast, and Mid-South regions.

Over the past two weeks, many states have been hit by winter storms, bringing freezing temperatures that have disrupted traffic, affected oil and gas production and distribution, and led to widespread power outages, leaving many without electricity during the extreme cold.

States of emergency have been declared in states across the country, from Oregon to Texas to Florida. Some of those orders focus on the deployment of snow plows and other responses, while others provide transportation waivers for regulations such as Hours of Service. For a complete list of Hours of Service waivers, check out this resource from SIGMA.

Fuel Market Impact

Fuel markets have been impacted by the cold weather, with reports of gelling and transportation delays in various markets. Western Tennessee, for instance, has seen limited fuel deliveries due to hazardous road conditions; those conditions have also brought local demand to near-zero as traffic is paused until ice clears. Many fuel carriers in Tennessee are currently offline until weather conditions improve. Kerosene supply challenges have also surfaced in some areas, such as cities in Nebraska, Iowa, and Ohio.

At the refinery level, Gulf Coast hubs have been severely impacted by the storms. As noted yesterday, refineries in the Gulf have seen roughly 1.5 million barrels per day of outages. Crude oil production has also been impacted, with significant outages in the Dakotas dampening the US’s normal crude output.

Mansfield is operating at Code Orange, requesting 48-hours’ notice for new deliveries in Mississippi, Alabama, West Virginia, Kentucky, Montana, Illinois, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Tennessee.

Mansfield will continue to monitor market conditions and keep customers alerted as the situation progresses.

What does this mean for you?

Icy weather causing delays in your operations? If you operate a diesel fleet, it’s never too late to implement a winter weather strategy. Let the ColdPRO experts help you develop a plan, from proactive fuel treatment to tank testing to on-hand emergency liquefiers.

Need to report an issue at your site? Contact Mansfield today for immediate assistance.