Offshore staff

NEW ORLEANS -- The Minerals Management Service (MMS) reports that 49 of the 3,800 offshore oil and gas production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico have been destroyed by Hurricane Ike. Currently, MMS has no information on whether any of the destroyed platforms will be rebuilt.

Initial estimates are that the 49 destroyed production platforms produced a total of 13,000 b/d of oil and 84 MMcf/d of gas.

Additional damage reported includes three jackup and one platform drilling rigs destroyed and one jackup drilling rig with extensive damage.

On-going reports indicate that there are five gas transmission pipeline systems with damage. The full extent of damage will not be available until operators are able to test the systems. MMS is analyzing the impact that this may have on resuming production.

MMS has been conducting helicopter fly-overs to investigate reports of oil spills/sheens. While it is too early for definitive reports, there are no reports of oil impacting the shoreline or affecting birds and wildlife from releases in the GoM federal waters, according to MMS.

09/18/2008