By Arathy Somasekhar, Marianna Parraga and Erwin Seba

HOUSTON, July 7 (Reuters) - The largest ports in Texas

closed operations and vessel traffic on Sunday to prepare for

Tropical Storm Beryl, which was expected to strengthen back to a

hurricane before hitting the area early on Monday.

The storm, which at one point intensified to a Category 5

hurricane, left a deadly trail of destruction across the

Caribbean. It could grow into a Category 2 hurricane after

making landfall in the middle of the Texas coast between

Galveston and Corpus Christi.

The ports of Corpus Christi, Houston, Galveston, Freeport

and Texas City said they closed after condition "Zulu" was set

by Coast Guard captains on Sunday. All vessel movement and cargo

operations are restricted as gale force winds are expected

within 12 hours.

Corpus Christi, about 200 miles (322 km) from Houston, is

the top crude oil export hub in the United States. Texas City,

and Freeport also are major oil and refined products shipping

hubs on the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Port closures could bring a temporary halt to crude exports,

oil shipments to refineries, and motor fuels from those plants.

The 52-mile Houston ship channel, which on Sunday operated

under transit restrictions before halting all traffic, allows

access to 8 public facilities and some 200 private terminals.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center modified Beryl's expected

path, marking a northerly turn with a forecast landfall near

Matagorda Bay. The storm could bring 85 mph (136 kph) winds and

cause major flooding, including in suburbs around Houston.

Almost 14,000 customers in Texas had lost electricity on

Sunday evening, according to PowerOutage.us. Power provider

Centerpoint Energy ( CNP ) said it was monitoring the storm and

making preparations.

Acting Texas Governor Dan Patrick urged people who were

on vacation in coastal areas to leave before the storm arrival.

"It's a serious storm and you must take it seriously and be

prepared," he said in a meeting with officials in Austin.

PREPARED

Energy infrastructure company Kinder Morgan ( KMI ) said on

Sunday it shut its West Clear Lake and Dayton natural gas

storage facilities, and its Texas City natural gas processing

facility ahead of the storm.

"We expect this to have minimal impact on our pipeline

operations," it said. All the company's other facilities in the

storm's path remain operational.

Some energy facilities in Texas had to shut or slow down

operations because of wind storms linked to Beryl.

Freeport LNG's liquefaction trains 1, 2 and 3 and a

pre-treatment facility were proactively shutdown due to impacts

associated with Beryl. Plant operators later restarted them "as

efficiently as possible to minimize flaring," according to a

filing with The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

Freeport said on Sunday that it had ramped down production

at its liquefaction facility and intends to resume operations

once it is safe to do so after the weather event.

Liquefied natural gas producer Cheniere Energy said

on Sunday its Corpus Christi facility was operating without

interruptions, but all nonessential personnel were released.

"Our Gulf Coast assets have robust and proven severe-weather

preparedness," it said in a release.

Chemical maker Chemours Co ( CC ), which has a production

facility near Corpus Christi, said on Sunday it escalated its

hurricane preparedness plans "to include planning for safe and

adequate staffing during and after the storm and securing

equipment and assets, should the storm make landfall near our

site."

Enbridge Inc ( ENB ), which operates large crude export

facilities near Corpus Christi, said all U.S. Gulf assets were

operational, adding that they had activated emergency plans.

Gibson Energy ( GBNXF ), which also operates an export

facility in the area, said on Sunday all Gateway and Houston

based employees were safe, and facilities and docks were secured

after the port of Corpus Christi closure.

Citgo Petroleum Corp was cutting production at its 165,000

barrel-per-day Corpus Christi refinery on Saturday, sources

said. The refiner plans to keep the plant in operation at

minimum during Beryl's passage.

Some oil producers, including Shell and Chevron ( CVX )

, had also shut in production or evacuated personnel from

their Gulf of Mexico offshore platforms.