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Gulf operators work to restore production Hurricane Claudette forces shutdown of 264 platforms, 41 drilling rigs and nearly a quarter of gulf production; most damage onshore Petroleum News Houston Staff
Claudette, although not as intense as the hurricane that swept through the Gulf of Mexico last year, nevertheless forced offshore operators to shut in nearly a quarter of the region’s production ahead of the storm, according to statistics furnished by the U.S. Minerals Management Service.
By the time Claudette struck the Texas coast July 15, operators had evacuated 264 offshore platforms and curtailed production amounting to 332,942 barrels per day of oil and 2.536 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas.
That hit represented about 21 percent of normal daily oil production of 1.6 million barrels and 18 percent of daily natural gas production of 14 billion cubic feet.
Major gulf producer ChevronTexaco alone reportedly shut in 120,000 barrels per day of oil and 425,000 million cubic of per day of gas ahead of Claudette.
Additionally, 41 drilling rigs or nearly 30 percent of the 140 rigs currently operating in the gulf were evacuated, according to MMS. The 264 shut-in platforms represented just over 6 percent of the gulf’s 4,060 platforms. Crews returning By July 16, however, many operators already had begun returning crews to offshore platforms and rigs as Claudette, a modest category one hurricane, moved well inland and rapidly dissipated into a tropical depression.
MMS said that the number of evacuated platforms and drilling rigs in the gulf had declined to 128 and 17, respectively, and reported daily production shortfalls of 200,409 barrels of oil and 2.197 billion cubic feet of natural gas.
ChevronTexaco said it had restored about half of the production it shut in and re-deployed about 90 percent of the 1,800 workers evacuated from offshore platforms. Shell and ExxonMobil, also major gulf producers, said they also had begun to re-man platforms and to restore production.
Shell had evacuated 300 personnel and shut in daily production of 50,000 barrels of oil and 250,000 million cubic feet of gas, while ExxonMobil had evacuated about 250 personnel and shut in daily production of 43,000 barrels of oil and 250,000 million cubic feet of gas.
Meanwhile, Williams said it expected to have all of its gas supply that was cut by producers to be flowing through the Transco pipeline system by July 17. Transco transports gas to markets in the Southeast and Northeast from producing platforms in the gulf.
The Houston Ship Channel, a major water link to area refineries, was re-opened to tanker traffic early July 16, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
Claudette and her 80-mph winds appeared to have caused far more damage onshore than offshore as the storm whipped Texas coastal communities, causing major flooding and knocking down power lines. About 130,000 homes and businesses reportedly lost power during the storm.
Last year offshore producers were hit hard by back-to-back storms — Tropical Storm Isidore followed by Hurricane Lili — between Sept. 23 and Oct. 18. MMS estimated that more than 14.4 million barrels of oil and 88.9 billion cubic feet of natural gas were unavailable for U.S. consumption because of the shutdown of oil and gas operations in the gulf.
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