Energy recovery moving quickly after Storm Edouard

By Erwin Seba

HOUSTON (Reuters) - The U.S. oil patch's recovery from Tropical Storm Edouard appeared unlikely to take much longer than the storm's 48-hour charge across the northern Gulf of Mexico before becoming a tropical depression over east Texas on Tuesday afternoon.

Offshore production and refinery output was reduced by only fractions compared with the devastating hurricanes of 2004 and 2005.

The U.S. Minerals Management Service said on Tuesday 6 percent of offshore crude oil production was shut and 12.3 percent of natural gas output remained offline.

Four of five refineries affected by the storm said they were restoring production by Tuesday afternoon.

The U.S. Gulf of Mexico supplies about a quarter of the country's crude oil output and 15 percent of its natural gas, while Gulf Coast refiners make about a quarter of domestic gasoline.

U.S. crude oil futures ignored Edouard for a second day on Tuesday, settling down $2.24 a barrel at $119.17, after tumbling as low as $118, the lowest price since May 5. .

Of the five affected refineries, Marathon Oil Corp's MRO.N 76,000 barrel per day refinery in Texas City, Texas, remained shut, a precaution taken when Edouard menaced the Houston-Texas City area.

Shell Oil Co and Valero Energy Corp said they were returning their Port Arthur, Texas, refineries to full output.

Shell's joint-venture Motiva plant was hit by a partial power outage, while Valero's refinery was affected by shipping interruptions at Houston and Port Arthur, which also impaired the company's Houston and Texas City, Texas, plants.

The Houston and Texas City plants were ramping up to full output.

The Houston Ship Channel remained shut on Tuesday afternoon, though the U.S. Coast Guard said it was beginning the process to reopen the waterway, which also serves Texas City. The waterway was shut due to rough seas on Monday.

The Sabine Pass Channel, which serves Port Arthur and Beaumont, Texas, also remains closed until seas calm down enough following the passage of Edouard's remnants.

The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, the nation's only deepwater oil port, resumed offloading foreign crude from tankers Tuesday afternoon. The LOOP was shut on Monday.

Chevron and Shell said they were returning evacuated workers to offshore platforms, while BP said it was standing down from its storm preparations.

Chevron did not disclose the number of workers evacuated, while Shell pulled 43 people out of the offshore area as the storm moved toward the Texas-Louisiana border.