Oil and gas companies are resuming operations at Gulf of Mexico developments following the passage of Hurricane Francine last week.
Based on data from offshore operator reports submitted as of 11:30 a.m. CDT Monday, Sept. 16, personnel remain evacuated from 24 production platforms, 6.47% of the 371 manned platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, according to the US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE).
From operator reports, BSEE estimates that about 12.18% (213,204 b/d) of the current oil production and 16.02% (298 MMcfd) of the current natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico remains shut-in as of Monday.
Oil, gas infrastructure
The LLOG-operated Who Dat floating production system (FPS) safely resumed operations Sept. 12, 2024, after being shut in due to the hurricane, said partner Karoon Energy Ltd. (30%) in a release Sept. 16.
The Who Dat platform and wells were shut in and personnel evacuated on Sept. 10 as a standard precautionary measure. Following the hurricane’s passage and an inspection of the FPS and wells, LLOG restarted production operations, with full ramp-up of production expected to take several days, Karoon said.
Shell on Saturday, Sept. 14, said it was ramping up production at Perdido following the resolution of downstream issues following the storm. As of the Saturday update, Auger and Enchilada/Salsa remained shut in due to other downstream issues, the operator said. Drilling remained paused at Whale, scheduled to begin operations later this year.
On Friday, Sept. 13, Shell began returning its Norco and Geismar infrastructure to normal operations following Hurricane Francine. During the storm, the Norco hydrocracker shut down due to a brief power outage but did not sustain any damage, Shell said. Norco will remain shut-in ahead of a routine, planned turnaround, which has now been moved up.
The company on Friday also began ramping up production at Appomattox, Mars, Vito, Ursa, and Olympus platforms following the resolution of downstream issues.
