Hurricane Harvey: Some operators resume oil production in Gulf of Mexico

U.S. offshore oil and gas operators have, as of Monday, evacuated 98 production platforms and five drilling rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, in response to the hurricane Harvey.

This means that some operators have actually returned some personnel offshore, as the previous number, as of Sunday, showed 105 evacuated platforms.

However, the hurricane is getting back to the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The National Hurricane Center on Tuesday said, the center of Harvey was expected to be just offshore of the middle and upper coasts of Texas through the night then move inland over the northwestern Gulf coast on Wednesday.

According to a Monday update by the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), it is estimated that approximately 18.94 percent of the current oil production of 1,750,000 barrels of oil per day in the Gulf of Mexico has been shut-in, which equates to 331,370 barrels of oil per day.

It is also estimated that approximately 18.12 percent of the natural gas production of 3,220 million cubic feet per day, or 583.39 million cubic feet per day in the Gulf of Mexico has been shut-in.

Oil giant Shell on Monday said the United States Coast Guard had visually confirmed the structural integrity of Shell’s Perdido Spar during a fly-over on Saturday, August 26th. In addition, Shell verified that Perdido’s on-board systems were functioning.

“We continue to monitor the asset from a state-of-the-art remote operation center in downtown New Orleans. We will continue to monitor weather conditions and look for an opportunity to safely perform an aerial inspection of Perdido in preparation for safe re-start of production. There is no timeline for that re-start. Shell’s top priority is always the safety of people, the environment, and our assets,” Shell said.

U.S. independent oil firm Anadarko has resumed production at its Lucius spar platform. However, Anadarko’s Boomvang, Gunnison and Nansen in the western Gulf remained shut in on Monday, “until the weather permits the safe return of our personnel to these facilities.”

Anadarko’s office in the Woodlands will remain closed until further notice, despite not being damaged, due to the widespread flooding and road conditions throughout Houston.

BP also said it was closely monitoring the effects of Hurricane Harvey. All four of BP’s production platforms in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico continue to operate, as does BP’s Texas City Chemical plant south of Houston.

“In light of widespread flooding and historic levels of rainfall in the Houston region, BP’s U.S. headquarters offices are closed on Monday, Aug. 28, 2017, and will reopen only when conditions improve. Our roughly 5,000 local employees will work remotely if they are able,” BP said.

BP and the BP Foundation have donated $750,000 to support flood relief efforts in Houston and surrounding Texas communities that have been significantly impacted by historic rain levels and other damage from Hurricane Harvey.

The donation, which will help provide flood victims with food, water, health services and shelter, will be divided equally among the American Red Cross, Community Foundation of Greater Houston and United Way of Greater Houston, with $250,000 going to each.

The BP Foundation also will match dollar for dollar donations that company employees make to these organizations or a local disaster relief organization of their choice to support relief efforts.

Despite the center of the hurricane moving offshore, the latest NHC update shows that ongoing catastrophic and life-threatening flooding will continue across southeastern Texas.

Additional rainfall accumulations of 7 to 13 inches are expected across the upper Texas coast into southwestern Louisiana, with isolated storm totals as high as 50 inches. Furthemore, ongoing catastrophic and life-threatening flooding will continue across southeastern Texas. Additional rainfall accumulations of 7 to 13 inches are expected across the upper Texas coast into southwestern Louisiana, with isolated storm totals as high as 50 inches.

The flood threat has spread farther east into Louisiana. Additional rainfall amounts of 5 to 15 inches are expected in south-central Louisiana. Rainfall amounts of 5 to 10 inches are expected in southeast Louisiana and coastal Mississippi and Alabama.

Offshore Energy Today Staff