With 102 platforms evacuated in response to tropical storm Harvey, offshore oil and gas production in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico remains curtailed.
According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), based on offshore operator reports submitted as of 11:30 CDT Wednesday, personnel remain evacuated from a total of 102 production platforms, 13.84 percent of the 737 manned platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.
In comparison with Tuesday’s report , the number of evacuated production platforms remained identical.
Personnel is evacuated from five non-dynamically positioned rigs, also identical to Tuesday’s figures, which is 50 percent of 10 such rigs of this type currently operating in the Gulf. No DP rigs have moved off location out of the storm’s path as a precaution. There are 21 DP rigs currently operating in the Gulf.
From operator reports, it is estimated that approximately 18.50 percent of the current oil production of 1,750,000 barrels of oil per day in the Gulf of Mexico has been shut-in, which equates to 323,760 barrels of oil per day. It is also estimated that approximately 18.98 percent of the natural gas production of 3,220 million cubic feet per day, or 611.09 million cubic feet per day in the Gulf of Mexico has been shut-in.
According to the latest update from the National Hurricane Center (NHC), the center of Harvey should have moved through central Louisiana on Wednesday night, then move through northeastern Louisiana and northwestern Mississippi Thursday and Thursday night, and over the Tennessee Valley region on Friday.
Maximum sustained winds were near 35 mph (55 km/h) on Wednesday with higher gusts. Gradual weakening is expected over the next 48 hours.
In order to assist in the recovery from Hurricane Harvey and following the cue of Shell and ExxonMobil, TechnipFMC donated $1 million to the United Way of Greater Houston to support the work being carried out across Houston and the Gulf Coast communities
Also, ConocoPhillips made a $2.5 million donation to the American Red Cross as well as a $2.5 million donation to the United Way of Greater Houston.
Perdido staff returns
According to Reuters, oil major Shell returned its staff to the Perdido platform in the Gulf of Mexico. A small team was airlifted to the Perdido platform and is currently assessing conditions to understand when production can be resumed.
To remind, Shell shut in production and secured its Perdido platform last week in preparation for severe weather associated with Hurricane Harvey.
Shell-operated Perdido is the second deepest in the Gulf of Mexico and normally produces around 100,000 barrels per day of oil and gas.
Offshore Energy Today Staff