Mexico moves oil workers on Dean, sees output impact

MEXICO CITY, Aug 19 (Reuters) – Mexico has started to evacuate 13,360 workers from its Gulf of Mexico oil rigs as powerful Hurricane Dean neared and the move will affect production, state oil company Pemex said on Sunday.

Pemex, which produces some 70 percent of its crude oil from offshore platforms in the Gulf of Mexico and is a major supplier to the United States, said it would know the output impact early on Monday.


“Production is currently normal, but this (the evacuations) will affect production. We will have an idea (of how much) early on Monday,” a Pemex spokeswoman said in the Mexican capital.

Pemex said it aimed to finish its evacuations before noon (1600 GMT) on Monday.

Mexico, the world’s No. 5 oil producer by volume, operates hundreds of rigs in the Gulf of Mexico at oil fields like Cantarell and Ku Maloob Zaap. It also produces a third of its natural gas in the offshore region.

Reuters