[Story was updated with new figures, hurricane status on Aug. 28]
The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) reported Aug. 28 that industry has shut in nearly 1.3 million b/d, or 93%, of the Gulf of Mexico oil production, and 3 bcfd, or 66.7%, of the gas production in the path of Hurricane Isaac.
The US Department of Energy reported that as of 12:30 p.m. EDT on Aug. 27, six refineries in the path of the storm were shut down or in the process of shutting down, representing 1.3 million b/d of capacity, or 17% of total gulf coast refining capacity. Of refineries in the potential storm path, Valero's 125,000 b/d capacity refinery in Meraux, La., already was shut down for reasons unrelated to the storm, DOE said. All six refineries are in Louisiana.
BSEE’s Hurricane Response Team reported 503 production platforms, or 84%, of the manned platforms in the gulf, were evacuated as of 11:30 a.m. CDT Aug. 28.
In addition, workers had been evacuated from 49 rigs, equivalent to 64.47% of rigs currently operating in the gulf. Rigs can include several types of self-contained offshore drilling facilities, including jack ups, submersibles, and semisubmersibles.
The DOE said the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port suspended tanker unloading at the terminal at 10 a.m. EDT on Aug. 27. At about that time, LOOP said it continued to meet customer obligations from its onshore facilities.
