Kinder Morgan shuts two Los Angeles fuel pipelines due to power outages

By Erwin Seba and Shariq Khan

(Reuters) -Pipeline operator Kinder Morgan Inc (NYSE:KMI) said that two of its fuel pipelines in Los Angeles have been shut since Jan. 8 due to power outages, as the most destructive wildfires in the city’s history continued to burn uncontained on Thursday.

The company said the 515-mile (828.8 km) SFPP West pipeline and 566-mile CALNEV pipelines are not directly impacted by the fires, and it expects them to resume service once power has been restored.

“Yikes! That’s how product gets to Phoenix, Las Vegas and San Diego,” a West Coast fuel trader said on hearing of the shutdown.

SFPP West transports fuel from the Los Angeles Basin to Colton, and Imperial, California, and to Phoenix, Arizona.

CALNEV moves gasoline, diesel and jet fuel from Colton, California to terminals in Barstow, California, and Las Vegas, Nevada, according to Kinder Morgan’s website.

“They should be able to catch up, but it depends on the inventory situations,” the trader said, requesting anonymity as they are not authorized to speak publicly about another company’s operations.

California refineries had about 5.2 million barrels of CARB gasoline in stockpiles as of Jan. 3, according to data from the California Energy Commission. So far there have been no reports of refinery outages in the state due to the wildfires.

More than 300,000 customers were without power in California as of Thursday, according to figures from utility Southern California Edison.