By Alison Sider
Marathon Petroleum Corp. (MPC) joined industry groups Tuesday in
urging the U.S. government to keep Mississippi River water levels
from falling to the point where barges can't carry crude oil to
refineries on the Gulf coast.
"MPC's marine operations depend upon the Mississippi River to
move crude oil and transportation fuels, along with other
products," spokesman Shane Pochard said in a statement. "We believe
it is imperative" that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers "take
action to address this problem," Mr. Pochard added
Barges have become increasingly important in transporting
domestic oil production. New drilling techniques have unlocked oil
trapped in rock formations in the Dakotas and other areas that have
yet to be reached by pipelines.
An estimated 700,000 tons of crude oil and 1.3 million tons of
petroleum products will be transported on the Mississippi in
December and January, according to figures from the American
Waterways Operators, the national Waterways Conferce, and Waterways
Council Inc.
Bob Anderson, a Corps spokesman, warned that if there's no rain
soon, the water level in St. Louis could drop to the point where
river navigation will be affected.
In a letter asking President Barack Obama to declare an
emergency Tuesday, 18 industry groups said waterborne commerce on a
portion of the river will be "severely impaired" by the middle of
next month unless action is taken to restore the water level.
The letter asks that the Corps remove rock pinnacles near the
Illinois cities of Grand Towar and Thebes and to release enough
water from the Missouri River reservoirs to sustain commercial
navigation.
"The crisis was created by this year's historic drought
conditions and will come to a head now that the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers has begun to implement plans to reduce the release of
water to the Mississippi River from dams on the upper Missouri
River," the letter stated.
But Mr. Anderson added that water released from a reservoir in
Minnesota is making its way toward St. Louis, and could provide
some relief.
However, Jody Farhat, chief of the Corps's Missouri River Basin
Water Management Office, said the Corps isn't authorized to
increase the amount of water it releases from reservoirs into the
Missouri River in order to aid navigation on the Mississippi River.
The Missouri River is a major contributor to the Mississippi.
Farhat added that the Mississippi River can expect lower flows
than normal.
"Our winter releases this year are going to be at reduced levels
because of the drought. the Missouri River reservoirs are drawn
down significantly due to the drought."
Ms. Farhat said the normal winter release rate will be lowered
from the usual 17,000 cubic feet per second to 12,000 cubic feet
per second this year. That release rate will be reduced
incrementally over the coming weeks.
-Write to Alison Sider at alison.sider@dowjones.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires