Chevron, Shell monitoring Hurricane Beryl

Chevron Corp. and Shell plc have evacuated personnel and shut in production as Hurricane Beryl continues its path toward the US Gulf of Mexico.

Hurricane Beryl struck Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula early Friday as a Category 2 storm and is projected to make landfall near the Texas-Mexico border early next week.

On July 5, Chevron said it is monitoring the projected path of the storm and has transported nonessential personnel from some of its Gulf of Mexico infrastructure, without naming specific assets. The company said production from Chevron-operated assets remains at normal levels. Preparedness activity includes “demobilization of personnel at Anchor, where first production is expected in the third quarter,” the company said.

Late July 4, Shell said all personnel at the Perdido platform have been evacuated and shut-in procedures have been completed. Perdido, which began production in 2010, lies about 200 miles south of Galveston, Tex., in about 8,000 ft of water. Its production capacity is 125,000 boe/d at peak rates.

At the Whale floating production unit, where operations are scheduled to begin later this year, the company has evacuated all personnel. The platform is built to withstand 30-m waves during hurricane season, the company has said. The platform was installed offshore in February 2024 about 320 km south-west of Houston, Tex. At peak, it is expected to produce around 100,000 boe/d.

Elsewhere, Shell said, it has paused some drilling operations, but said there are currently no other impacts on its production across the Gulf of Mexico.