This hurricane season, specialty oil suppliers and customers are faced with the increasingly disruptive effects of natural disasters on the supply chain.
Experts say that climate change is raising ocean temperatures and sea levels, making extreme weather phenomena like hurricanes more frequent and more destructive.
Businesses and supply chains need to prepare. Below we’ll go over the outlook for this hurricane season and discuss ways to mitigate the risk of extreme weather disruptions to your supply chain.
Suzanne Kingsbury, Director of Quality
The Outlook: Hurricane Season 2024
So many powerful storms are predicted for this year that scientists are beginning to worry that they will run out of names to give them.
It’s only happened twice before, but if the number of tropical storms exceeds 21—the number of storm names already prepared by the World Meteorological Organization for this year—then they will have to start using names from a different, supplementary list.
This has only happened twice before, but Colorado State University’s hurricane forecast for 2024 projects that we will see 25 named storms, taking us over the number of names with room to spare.
Hurricane Beryl
Another sign of things to come is how early hurricane season started this year. Generally, the first major hurricane (Category 3 and above) isn’t until the end of August or early September.
But this year, Hurricane Beryl, a Category 5, was formed as early as June 28th, making it the earliest Category 5 on record in the Atlantic. It proceeded to peak around July 2nd and left more than $6 billion of damages in its wake.
Historically, seasons with big and early storms tend to have more hurricanes, so it is likely that Beryl is an early portent of the season to come.
La Niña
Another indication of the severity we can expect from this hurricane season is the presence of La Niña, a periodic weather pattern known to increase the severity of hurricane season.
While El Niño, the opposite pattern, often involves fast winds that can stop hurricanes from forming, La Niña doesn’t, taking the brakes off the storm’s progression.
This combined with record-high ocean temperatures is “a little ominous,” according to meteorology researcher Brian McNoldy.
Mitigating the Risk of Hurricane Season with Your Specialty Oil Supplier
Working with a specialty oil supplier that is prepared to handle supply chain disruptions is a crucially important way to protect your business from extreme weather conditions this hurricane season.
Renkert Oil has four decades of experience in supply logistics, and we have used this experience to successfully protect our customers from natural disasters in the past, such as Hurricane Katrina.
Katrina: A Case Study in Supply Security
When Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in 2005, it had an immediately devastating impact as well as lasting effects. Oil refineries in the area were nearly entirely shut down, and after 10 months, production was still 30 percent below where it started before the storm.
But Renkert Oil was prepared. For one thing, we’d invested in “hurricane tanks,” which provided extra supply in case there was an unseen event like a hurricane that would cut our regular resupply. We also worked with customers to avoid panic-buying and maintain our flow of product.
Throughout the crisis, we worked closely with our contract customers to ration supply and were even able to continue fulfilling spot orders. The result was that we were the only supplier that made it all the way to the refinery restarts with inventory lasting to the day our resupply arrived.
Making Renkert Oil Your Specialty Oil Supplier
Since Hurricane Katrina, Renkert Oil has invested even more heavily in “hurricane tanks,” giving us millions of gallons of excess storage.
We also have facilities spread across the United States and a facility in Antwerp, Belgium. This geographical diversification mitigates the risk of natural disasters that may affect one facility in one region, as products can be sourced from any of several redundant supply points.
Contracted supply is another important part of our disaster mitigation policies. Contract customers are always at the front of the line when supply gets limited, allowing us to consistently supply critical oils, even in times of crisis.
Renkert Oil is a specialty oil supplier uniquely prepared to handle the uncertainty that comes with increasingly extreme hurricane seasons. Our proven track record and 40 years of supply logistics experience make us a prized partner of businesses that understand the value of supply security.
Don’t hesitate to get ahead of hurricane season. Partner with us by making Renkert Oil your specialty oil supplier today.