Oil operations in Gulf prepare for Ida
Companies evacuate personnel, secure facilities as storm takes aim at Louisiana
Oil companies evacuated offshore workers Friday, secured facilities and halted production in the Gulf of Mexico as Hurricane Ida took aim at Louisiana.
Workers have been evacuated from 89 production platforms, about 16 percent of the 560 platforms operating in the Gulf of Mexico, according to the Interior Department. One of the the 11 stationary drilling rigs in the Gulf has been evacuated, and 11 of the 15 mobile drilling rigs in the Gulf have been moved from the storm’s track, the department said Friday.
BP said it is flying personnel from its four platforms, securing wells and is temporarily halting production in the Gulf. Chevron said it is moving all personnel from its offshore facilities and is also curtailing production. Exxon Mobil said it is evacuating personnel from the Hoover platform with minimal impact to the company’s U.S. production. Royal Dutch Shell said it is evacuating all personnel from its Ursa, Mars, Olympus and Appomattox platforms; and has stopped production at its Stones, Auger and Enchilada/Salsa platforms and is moving the floating production vessel Turritella out of the storm’s trajectory.
“We will continue to monitor weather reports and respond accordingly,” Shell spokeswoman Cindy Babski said. “As always, the safety of our people, the environment and our assets is Shell’s top priority.”
Ida is strengthening in the open waters of the Gulf and is expected to make landfall in Louisiana this weekend as a major hurricane, threatening the nation’s largest concentration of refineries, petrochemical plants and offshore platforms. The storm is expected to land as a Category 4 hurricane with winds up to 140 miles per hour late Sunday, the 16th anniversary of
Hurricane Katrina.
In Houston, gasoline supplies should not see much of an impact and prices should not rise more than a few cents, according to Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for online fuel-price tracker GasBuddy.
Ida is forcing companies to temporarily halt 59 percent of the oil production and nearly half of the gas production in the Gulf of Mexico so far, according to the Interior Department. The U.S. Gulf of Mexico produces 1.8 million barrels of oil per day, second only to shale production in Texas.
Gulf Coast refineries, which process nearly half of the nation’s fuel and natural gas, and chemical plants are particularly susceptible to the devastating effects of hurricanes. Most of the nation’s imported crude also enters the country through ports in the Gulf.
Texas refineries and petrochemical companies were already seeing record chemical prices as their raw materials are in short supply. Those prices could increase even more as operations are halted due to Ida.
“It is still too soon to say if there will be any lasting impacts of this storm, but the consequences can be felt across the country and around the globe depending on the ultimate path of the storm,” said Peter McNally, an energy leader at New York investment research firm Third Bridge Group.
With Ida expected to make landfall between Cameron, La. and the Mississippi-Alabama state line, many refineries, liquefied natural gas facilities and petrochemical plants in Texas don’t expect the storm to greatly affect operations.
Cheniere, Exxon Mobil, Freeport LNG, LyondellBasell and Westlake said they are monitoring the storm closely and are preparing to activate hurricane plans in case the storm shifts westward.
Phillips 66 said its refinery operations are being adjusted based on the storm’s progression. Cameron LNG said it is taking precautions to ensure personnel and plant operational safety.
“While the current track of the storm is expected to be east of Sabine Pass and our impacts are expected to be minimal, we are closely monitoring the storm and are prepared to respond should conditions change to keep our people and facility safe,” Cheniere said in a statement. “Our thoughts will be with our neighbors in Louisiana and that they stay safe during this event, and we stand ready to assist in recovery efforts wherever we can be helpful.”
NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center is forecasting another busier-than-normal Atlantic hurricane season this year, with 13 to 20 named storms.
The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, the second most-active on record, forced offshore oil producers to curtail about 110,000 barrels per day. That’s the most since the 2008 hurricane season, which saw curtailments of nearly 140,000 barrels of oil a day, according to S&P Global Platts.