Lloyds List: Battening down the hatches: “Shell Oil has closed 270,000 barrels per day of oil output from its tension-leg platforms” (ShellNews.net)

Martyn Wingrove

Sep 15, 2004

GULF of Mexico oil and gas producers are bracing themselves for Hurricane Ivan, shutting down production platforms and evacuating staff.

Around 20 oil majors and independents have evacuated platforms and drilling rigs operating in the eastern and central parts of the region and more are expected to close today as the hurricane sweeps in towards the Gulf Coast after skirting Cuba.

Shell Oil has closed 270,000 barrels per day of oil output from its tension-leg platforms, while US majors ChevronTexaco and ExxonMobil have closed facilities. ChevronTexaco has shut one of the region's largest refineries, the 355,000 bpd Pascagoula plant, while ExxonMobil is expected to close the Chalmette refinery.

Dallas-based Pioneer Natural Resources has shut down its Devil's Tower spar and the deepwater Canyon Express gas project.

Murphy Oil has shut down operations on the Medusa and Front Runner spars, a spokeswoman confirmed. Its partner, Spinnaker, is expecting these facilities to be closed for up to ten days depending on the track of the hurricane. Newfield Exploration has shut down a quarter of its gas producing assets in the region and suspended drilling on two rigs. Remington Oil has shut down almost all of its offshore facilities.

When Hurricane Charley crashed through the region in August, over 40 companies shut down 154 platforms and 32 rigs, closing off output of 480,000 barrels of oil and 1.1bn cu ft of gas per day, said the Minerals Management Service.

The Gulf of Mexico's daily production is around 1.7m barrels of oil and 12.3bn cu ft of gas per day, said the MMS.