Offshore oil and gas operators in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico are resuming normal operations and bringing their facilities back online, following Tropical Storm Gordon.
As previously reported, oil and gas operators started returning to the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday, following the weakening of the Tropical Storm Gordon.
The U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) said on Thursday that, based on data from offshore operator reports submitted as of 11:30 CDT Thursday, personnel remain evacuated from a total of 12 production platforms, which is 1.75 percent of the 687 manned platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. This means that another 36 platforms have been re-boarded since Wednesday.
Personnel have returned to all 20 drilling rigs (non-dynamically positioned (DP) rigs), currently operating in the Gulf and none of the 19 DP rigs currently operating in the Gulf are off location as a result of the storm’s path.
From operator reports, it is estimated that approximately 5.62 percent of the current oil production in the Gulf of Mexico remains shut-in, and approximately 5.59 percent of the natural gas production is shut-in. This compares to 9.36 percent of shut-in oil production and 10.39 percent of shut-in natural gas production on Wednesday.
As the storm has passed, operators will continue to re-board and inspect their facilities. The bureau of safety said that, once all standard checks have been completed, production from undamaged facilities will be brought back online immediately.
Any facilities sustaining damage may take longer to bring back online. Currently, no damages have been reported, the BSEE concluded.