Ike destroys 49 oil platforms in Gulf

Two-thirds of region’s oil production, more than three-fifths of natural gas output remains off line 10 days after hurricane hit

H. Josef Hebert

The Associated Press

At least 49 offshore oil platforms, all with production of less than 1,000 barrels a day, were destroyed by Hurricane Ike as it raced across the Gulf of Mexico, and some may not be rebuilt, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior.

It said in the federal government’s latest hurricane damage assessment that the platforms altogether accounted for 13,000 barrels of oil and 84 million cubic feet of natural gas a day. In June 2008, there were more than 3,800 production platforms in the Gulf producing 1.3 million barrels of oil and 7 billion cubic feet of gas each day. Since that time, gas production from the Independence Hub facility has increased and current gas production from the Gulf is estimated at 7.4 Bcf/d.

Interior’s Minerals Management Service estimated Sept. 23 that about 66.8 percent of the oil production and 61.6 percent of the natural gas production in the Gulf remains shut in.

The MMS report said the agency was conducting helicopter flyovers of the Gulf waters to investigate unconfirmed reports of oil spills and oil sheens, but that it was too early to issue any definitive findings.

“There are no reports of oil impacting the shoreline or affecting birds and wildlife from releases in the Gulf of Mexico federal waters,” said the agency.

The agency also said five gas transmission pipeline systems sustained damage, although the extent of damage is not yet known. It earlier had reported four oil drilling rigs had been destroyed and another damaged.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Energy reported that as of mid-afternoon Sept. 18, 12 of 31 refineries in Texas and Louisiana, with a total production capacity of 3 million barrels a day, remained shut down as a result of the hurricane that swept through the region on Sept. 13. A number of the others are operating at reduced runs.

More than 2.3 million electricity customers in six states as far away as Pennsylvania remain without power as a result of the hurricane and its aftermath of heavy rain, said the department. Of those, 1.6 million customers are in Texas.

Other states affected are Louisiana (18,804 customers), Kentucky (167,740), Indiana (36,800), Ohio (488,900) and Pennsylvania (16,730), according to the department.

About 93 percent of the Gulf’s crude oil production remains shut down as does 77.6 percent of its natural gas production, said the Minerals Management Service.

The Energy Department said 10 of 39 natural gas processing facilities also were still closed as a result of Hurricane Ike and Hurricane Gustav which hit two weeks earlier, giving the Gulf’s energy infrastructure a glancing blow.

The Gulf region accounts for 25 percent of the country’s domestic oil production, or about 1.3 million barrels a day, and 15 percent of its natural gas supplies, or about 7 billion cubic feet of gas a day.

Offshore oil and gas operators in the Gulf of Mexico are beginning to re-board platforms and rigs and restore production.

MMS said it has recalculated the number of manned platforms in the Gulf of Mexico since 23 manned platforms have been confirmed destroyed by Hurricane Ike. The new figure of 694 manned platforms was used to calculate the percentage of manned platforms evacuated. Based on data from offshore operator reports submitted Sept. 23, personnel are evacuated from a total of 203 production platforms, or 29.3 percent of the 694 manned platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.

The total number of rigs currently operating in the Gulf of Mexico has been recalculated to allow for the number of rigs destroyed or severely damaged as a result of Hurricane Ike. Of the recalculated figure of 116 rigs currently operating in the Gulf, MMS said personnel from four rigs, or 3.5 percent, are evacuated.

Petroleum News contributed to this report