Chevron: Gulf of Mexico ops back to normal following Storm Nate

According to Reuters, U.S. oil giant Chevron said on Wednesday it resumed normal operations in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico after Storm Nate knocked out its oil and gas output.

The news agency said that the company shut in at least five Gulf platforms and evacuated all staff ahead of Storm Nate, shutting-in more than 128,000 barrels of oil production per day.

To remind, ExxonMobil said on Tuesday that it resumed normal operations at its Julia and Hadrian South subsea production systems in the Gulf after the storm forced them to shutter last weekend. The company also said it is in the process of restoring full production to its Mobile Bay platform.

In Wednesday’s report, The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) said that personnel still remains evacuated from a total of 36 production platforms, which is 4.88 percent of the 737 manned platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.

There is still only 1 non-dynamically positioned (DP) drilling rig out of the 20 rigs of this type which remains evacuated. All DP rigs returned to previous locations on Tuesday.

From operator reports, it is estimated that approximately 32.68 percent of the current oil production in the Gulf of Mexico remains shut-in, which equates to 571,854 barrels of oil per day. It is also estimated that approximately 20.51 percent of the natural gas production or 660.55 million cubic feet per day in the Gulf of Mexico is shut-in.

No damages have been reported as of yet.