Dear Shell Distributor:

The Texas Gulf Coast is preparing for the impact of Hurricane Ike.  Many of the coastal areas are being evacuated, and businesses in the region are closing on Friday, Sept. 12, to prepare for the impact of the storm.

At 12:00pm CST today, the Houston Lubricants Plant (HLP) closed to allow our staff to prepare the facilities for Hurricane Ike.  The Houston Regional Distribution Center (HRDC) will remain open today, but will be closed on Friday.  Pending site assessments after the storm passes, business will resume when safe for operations.

Currently, the Customer Service Center (including the Managed Outbound Scheduling [MOS] group) is scheduled to remain open until 12:00pm CST on Friday.  As the safety of our staff is our first priority, this could change depending on conditions.  We have contingency plans and secondary locations in place if needed after the hurricane passes through the region.

As we shared with you earlier this year, Shell Lubricants has a Supply Preparedness Plan in place to help ensure continuity of supply in the event of severe weather impact.  As part of this Plan, we have increased inventories at our plants, Regional Distribution Centers, and temporary warehouses outside of the Houston area.   Supply Chain Planning is actively moving bulk loads from HLP and packaged orders from HRDC to other plants to minimize impact to existing orders.  Lubricants Supply Chain is working closely with our carriers and other suppliers to meet our distributors and customers needs. 
 
We thank you in advance for your patience and cooperation as we prepare for landfall of Hurricane Ike.  We will continue to communicate to our sales staff and would ask that you direct any questions or issues to your Distributor Performance Manager.

Regards,

Lisa Davis