Gulf of Mexico operators return to work after Nate

Oct. 16, 2017
Offshore operators and contractors are returning to work in the Gulf of Mexico following Hurricane Nate.

Offshore staff

HOUSTON – Offshore operators and contractors are returning to work in the Gulf of Mexico in the wake of Hurricane Nate. Workers have returned to all but a handful of manned production platforms after evacuations that took place before the storm.

Roughly 24% of the oil production in the Gulf, which is more than 425,000 b/d of oil, remains offline, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said Friday. Only 20 of the Gulf’s 737 manned platforms remained evacuated.

Last Saturday, BSEE said drillers had shut in 92% of the region’s crude production, and evacuated more than 300 manned platforms as Hurricane Nate approached.

Companies had also taken 77% of the Gulf’s natural gas production offline, about 2.5 MMc/fd. On Friday, BSEE estimated that only 12% of the region’s gas output was still shut down.

10/16/2017