Houston-based oil company Energy XXI Gulf Coast has not sustained any significant damage due to Hurricane Nate but the company’s production at certain assets in the Gulf of Mexico remains reduced.
Due to Hurricane Nate’s course through the Gulf of Mexico, the company and third-party operators evacuated crews on October 5. The storm resulted in essentially all production being shut in for nearly five days.
Once weather conditions improved, Energy XXI completed flyover and onsite inspections in the Gulf of Mexico that indicated the company sustained no significant damage to its operated offshore facilities. The company began restoring production once pipelines and onshore facilities were returned to service.
However, at this time, the company estimates about 3,000 net barrels of oil equivalent (Boe) daily production remains curtailed due to the storm, Energy XXI said on Tuesday.
Energy XXI also said that approximately 5,000 Boe of daily production is currently shut-in due to pipeline repairs and maintenance unassociated with the hurricane. Based on current information and a projected timeline for production restoration, the impact to fourth quarter production is estimated to be 3,000 to 4,000 net Boe per day from the combination of the storm and pipeline repairs and maintenance.
Douglas E. Brooks , Energy XXI’s Chief Executive Officer and President, commented, “We are pleased that our operated facilities appear to have sustained minimal damage due to Hurricane Nate and we continue to be in communication with operators of our non-operated assets. While our team has brought the majority of our production back online due to the storm, additional production has been curtailed due to pipeline repairs and maintenance. It will take time to restore production to pre-storm levels. This has been an especially difficult hurricane season as we have been forced to shut-in production multiple times.”
The U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) must also deem the facilities that were in the path of the storm operational before production can resume. Energy XXI is awaiting additional information regarding full restoration of production from third-party operated fields.