Gulf of Mexico: A quarter of oil production still shut-in

Operators are reporting less and less evacuated platforms in the Gulf of Mexico as Storm Nate now a thing of the past, but a quarter of daily oil production is still shut-in.

According to Thursday’s report by the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), personnel remain evacuated from a total of 20 production platforms, which is 2.71 percent of the 737 manned platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.

As far as the rigs are concerned, all personnel have returned to the previously evacuated non-dynamically positioned (DP) rigs while all relocated DP rigs returned to the Gulf.

From operator reports, it is estimated that approximately 24.32 percent of the current oil production in the Gulf of Mexico remains shut-in, which equates to 425,687 barrels of oil per day. It is also estimated that approximately 12.42 percent of the natural gas production or 399.92 million cubic feet per day in the Gulf of Mexico is shut-in.

The BSEE added that, now that the storm has passed, operators would continue to re-board and inspect facilities. Once all standard checks have been completed, production from undamaged facilities will be brought back online immediately.

At the moment, no damages from rigs and platforms have been reported.