Anadarko returns staff to Gulf of Mexico as Irma subsides

U.S. oil and gas company Anadarko has sent its staff back to offshore facilities in the Gulf of Mexico as Hurricane Irma weakened to a tropical depression.

Anadarko evacuated its offshore personnel from the Horn Mountain and Marlin platform in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday.

The oil company reported on Monday that, with the weather clearing in the Gulf of Mexico, it had sent its personnel back to its two operated facilities.

“We expect to restart production as quickly and safely as possible,” Anadarko said.

According to a Tuesday update by the National Hurricane Center (NHC), at 1100 PM EDT (0300 UTC), the center of Tropical Depression Irma was located near latitude 32.4 North, longitude 84.9 West. The depression is moving toward the northwest near 15 mph (24 km/h), and this motion at a slightly slower speed is expected through Tuesday. A turn toward the north-northwest is forecast Tuesday night. On the forecast track, the center of Irma will move into Alabama soon and then into western Tennessee by Tuesday evening.

Maximum sustained winds have decreased to near 35 mph (55 km/h) with higher gusts. Additional weakening is forecast, and Irma is expected to degenerate into a remnant low by Tuesday evening. The low is likely to dissipate by Wednesday evening.

Before it subsided, the hurricane Irma forced several oil and gas operators in the Gulf of Mexico to shut in operations and evacuate their personnel from offshore locations. The evacuated facilities included BP’s Thunder Horse platform and West Vela drilship, Shell’s eastern Gulf of Mexico assets, ExxonMobil’s Lena platform, and Anadarko’s Horn Mountain and Marlin.

Offshore Energy Today Staff