HURRICANE SHUTS DOWN GULF ACTIVITY

A.D. Koen
Gulf Coast News Editor

Producers in the Gulf of Mexico and plant operators in South Louisiana last week were checking for damage wrought by Hurricane Andrew.

The killer hurricane, its winds docked at as much as 164 mph, blasted across southern Florida Aug. 24 and plowed west into the gulf, then swung north and again made landfall near New Iberia, La. By Aug. 26 Andrew had reached Baton Rouge and was downgraded to a tropical storm.

In its wake it left evacuated rigs and platforms in the gulf and shuttered plants across a wide swath of the Gulf Coast. Operations were beginning to return to normal late last week.

Not all gulf operators, especially in the central gulf, expected to return to offshore facilities by Aug. 27. And even producers able to book helicopters did not expect to be able to fully assess damage to all offshore installations before the weekend.

Producers began evacuating offshore personnel as Andrew swept across Florida. By the afternoon of Aug. 24, the evacuation was complete.

Don Howard, Minerals Management Service supervisor for the New Orleans district, said only remote unmanned offshore production installations monitored from shore continued operating during the storm.

"Most of the fields in our district are close to shore, but we won't know how hard those areas have been hit until we get back out there," Howard said.

MMS officials in Washington estimated that 37,500 offshore workers were evacuated from 700 oil and gas installations on the gulf's Outer Continental Shelf. Gulf oil and gas wells account for about 800,000 b/d of oil and one fourth of total U.S. gas production.

MMS was awaiting an assessment of hurricane damage before estimating how soon and how much gulf oil and gas production would be restored.

INDUSTRY ACTION

At press time last week, these companies reported the status of operations in the gulf:

Conoco Inc. did not expect to begin moving employees back into the eastern and central gulf for platform assessments until Aug. 27.
Conoco was beginning to return its 159,500 b/cd refinery at Lake Charles, La., to full capacity. The refinery had begun a phased shutdown Aug. 24 but had not achieved full shutdown by the time Andrew's threat had passed.
In preparation for Andrew, the company evacuated about 200 employees and 200 contract workers from installations in the gulf and had platforms secured.
Because Conoco's operations are highly automated, the company was forced to curtail only 5-10% of its gulf production. Some other production was shut in because refinery curtailments and full pipelines left Conoco no place to send output.
Texaco U.S.A. had not managed to begin sending personnel back to offshore installations.
Helicopters probably would not be able to begin flying people out until at least Aug. 27, Texaco said. The company continued producing about 300 MMcfd of gas because of its Stormac automated monitor and control system. Texaco's gulf wide gas production averages about 630 MMcfd.
Texaco evacuated 127 employees and 183 contract workers from the gulf before Andrew arrived.
Shell Oil Co. was resuming operations at its 215,000 b/cd Norco, La., refinery after curtailing operations Aug. 24 and sending home contract workers. Employees at Shell's 215,000 b/cd Deer Park, Tex., refinery also were prepared for Andrew's expected arrival, but the storm didn't make it to the Houston area.
Shell began evacuating nonessential personnel from the eastern and central gulf Aug. 22 and by the evening of Aug. 24 had brought about 800 workers ashore.
The evacuation forced Shell to shut in about 145,000 b/d of oil and 490 MMcfd of gas. Shell operates 57 fields in the gulf, mostly in the central region.
Another 50 employees were evacuated from the western gulf Aug. 25. The company late Aug. 25 believed Andrew likely would miss most company installations off the Texas coast.
Shell offices in New Orleans were closed at the request of New Orleans public officials.
Mobil Exploration & Producing U.S. Inc. had resumed operations at its Mary Ann gas plant in Alabama and Block 823 field production installations in Alabama state water on Mobile Bay after shutting in those facilities and evacuating all offshore personnel Aug. 24.
All other offshore Mobil operated production remained shut in, including about 70,000 b/d of oil and condensate and 900 MMcfd of gas. Mobil had started moving employees back into the West Cameron-High Island areas, which Andrew mostly bypassed.
Marathon Oil Co. had not confirmed the status of its offshore operations. The company's production office is in Lafayette, La., an area hard hit by Andrew.
Marathon shut down about 30 company operated platforms on the afternoon of Aug. 24 and evacuated more than 200 company employees, temporarily shutting in 36,000 b/d of oil and condensate production and 265 MMcfd of gas.
Marathon lost power during the storm at its 225,000 b/cd Garyville, La., refinery but had received no reports of damage. "We have a little power back and we're bringing the refinery back up slowly," an official said.
Chevron Corp. did not expect to begin sending out damage assessment parties until Aug. 27. The company moved ashore 1,200 contract and company workers from 171 manned facilities and four drilling rigs in the gulf, shutting in 133,000 b/d of oil and 1 bcf of gas production.
On Aug. 25, Chevron shut down its chemical plants in Louisiana and its Port Arthur, Tex., marine terminal.
Exxon Corp. said all company operated offshore and some onshore production facilities remained shut in and would be restored only after their safety and integrity is restored.

Exxon started evacuating the first of 700 contract and company workers from the gulf during the weekend of Aug. 22 23.

RESUMING OPERATIONS

When gulf oil and gas activity begins resuming, MMS New Orleans district supervisor Howard said agency personnel expect first to be talking to companies with suspended drilling operations.

"We won't know the status of those wells until the companies get crews back out there," Howard said. "Companies with platforms that are damaged normally call in to let us know."

MMS early Aug. 24 released 12 helicopters leased from Petroleum Helicopters Inc. (PHI), Lafayette, La., so they would be available to help operators and contractors evacuate workers from platforms and rigs.