Shipping has been disrupted and refinery production cut after a petrochemical fire and spill near the Houston Ship Channel.
Shell and LyondellBasell Industries reduced output due to the incident at Mitsui & Co Inc’s Intercontinental Terminals Co (ITC) storage facility in Deer Park, Texas, last week.
Reuters reported that petrol, water and fire suppressant foam ended up in the Channel.
The US Coast Guard was reopening portions of the channel on Monday to daytime travel and asking ships to leave the area nearest to the site to be inspected for chemical contaminates.
Houston Pilots said traffic was limited to ships with less than a 34-foot draught during daylight hours, and transits were taking place at one-hour intervals.
An 11-kilometre (6.8-mile) section of the channel was closed on Friday, leading to a bottleneck of tankers.
On Monday, 31 vessels were waiting to enter Houston.
