BSEE: 38% of GoM oil production shut-in as Hurricane Francine moves closer to Louisiana landfall

The US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) updated its monitoring of offshore oil and gas operators in the US Gulf of Mexico as companies readied in recent days for the arrival of now Hurricane Francine.

As of 1:00 pm CDT, Hurricane Francine was moving toward the northeast near 16 mph. It is expected to make landfall in Louisiana this afternoon or this evening, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Hurricane Center (NHC). After landfall, the center is expected to cross southeastern Louisiana tonight, then move northward across Mississippi on Thursday and Thursday night.

Maximum sustained winds are near 90 mph with higher gusts.  An unnamed oil platform east of the center recently reported sustained winds of 83 mph and a peak gust of 102 mph at an elevation of 102 ft, according to the NHC.

Based on data from offshore operator reports submitted as of 11:30 a.m. CDT Sept. 11, personnel have been evacuated from a total of 171 production platforms, 46% of the 371 manned platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.

Personnel have been evacuated from 3 non-dynamically positioned (DP) rigs, equivalent to 60% of the 5 rigs of this type currently operating in the Gulf, BSEE said.

A total of 4 DP rigs have moved off location out of the storm’s path as a precaution. This number represents 20% of the 20 DP rigs currently operating in the Gulf.

Production operations

From operator reports, BSEE estimates that about 38.56% (674,833 b/d) of the current oil production and 48.77% (907 MMcfd) of the current natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico has been shut in.

LLOG Exploration, operator of the Who Dat assets in the US Gulf of Mexico, shut in all Who Dat wells and evacuated the platform due to Hurricane Francine, project partner Karoon Energy Ltd. said in a Sept. 11 release.

Drilling at Who Dat South, targeting Miocene age turbidite reservoir targets, has been suspended. LLOG had just begun drilling Who Dat South well MC 545-1 late last week (OGJ Online, Sept. 9, 2024).

It is currently anticipated that Who Dat will be shut in for about a week, depending on the trajectory and severity of the hurricane, Karoon said.