Oil and gas operators returning to Gulf of Mexico as storm moves to shore

Oil and gas operators have started returning to the Gulf of Mexico, following the weakening of the Tropical Storm Gordon, but oil production from the gulf further decreased. 

Following evacuation from two of its Gulf of Mexico platforms on Monday, Anadarko said on Wednesday that it began the process of moving its staff back to Horn Mountain and Marlin facilities after Tropical Storm Gordon weakened and moved on shore.

Anadarko added that it planned to restart production on the two facilities as quickly as possible.

All other Anadarko-operated and producing facilities in the Gulf of Mexico were unaffected by the storm.

As previously reported, three more oil producers on Tuesday moved its personnel out of storm’s way, including Talos, ExxonMobil, and Chevron, and BP was closely monitoring the situation.

48 platforms evacuated

In addition to information provided by Anadarko, data from the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) also indicates that operators were returning to the Gulf of Mexico.

Namely, BSEE said in a report on Wednesday, September 5 that personnel were evacuated from a total of 48 production platforms, 6.99 percent of the 687 manned platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, six less than on Tuesday.

All of the 20 non-dynamically positioned rigs currently operating in the Gulf are currently in operation with all of the 19 dynamically positioned rigs on location.

It is worth noting that, even though the number of evacuated platforms decreased, oil production decreased. Namely, the BSEE report said that 9.36 percent of oil production was shut in on Wednesday, slightly more than 9.23 percent on Tuesday.

It is also estimated that approximately 10.39 percent of the natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico has been shut-in, a higher shut in percentage than on Tuesday which was 9.06 percent.

“After the storm has passed, facilities will be inspected and production from undamaged facilities will be brought back online immediately. Facilities sustaining damage may take longer to bring back online,” the bureau of safety added.

According to the latest report by the National Hurricane Center (NHC), Tropical Depression Gordon continues to weaken over western Mississippi and the threat of heavy rains and flooding will continue for several days.

Offshore Energy Today Staff