Oil Firms Evacuate Gulf of Mexico Workers ahead of Karen

Oil companies operating in the Gulf of Mexico are evacuating its workers ahead of the tropical storm Karen.

According to Bloomberg, BP, Chevron and Shall began the personnel removal from the offshore facilities located in the storm’s way. ExxonMobil and Anadarko have reduced production from its GoM facilities.

The Coast Guard has advised mariners and members of the maritime community across the Gulf Coast to prepare for the storm.

According to the National Weather Service, projected paths for Karen indicate that it may make landfall early Saturday morning along the eastern half of the Gulf Coast.

Hurricane watch is in effect for Grand Isle, Louisiana, to the west of Destin, Florida. A hurricane watch means that hurricane conditions are possible within the watch area in two days since the announcement.

Legend

“The graphic above shows an approximate representation of coastal areas under a hurricane warning (red), hurricane watch (pink), tropical storm warning (blue) and tropical storm watch (yellow). The orange circle indicates the current position of the center of the tropical cyclone. The black line and dots show the National Hurricane Center (NHC) forecast track of the center at the times indicated. The dot indicating the forecast center location will be black if the cyclone is forecast to be tropical and will be white with a black outline if the cyclone is forecast to be extratropical. If only an L is displayed, then the system is forecast to be a remnant low. The letter inside the dot indicates the NHC’s forecast intensity for that time: 

D: Tropical Depression – wind speed less than 39 MPH
S: Tropical Storm – wind speed between 39 MPH and 73 MPH
H: Hurricane – wind speed between 74 MPH and 110 MPH
M: Major Hurricane – wind speed greater than 110 MPH

[mappress]
Offshore Energy Today Staff, October 04, 2013