bloomberg
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'G')ulf Energy Recovery From Storms Is Slowed by Onshore Damage
Oct. 4 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. energy production in the Gulf of Mexico is recovering more slowly from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita than from Ivan last year mostly because of more extensive onshore damage, U.S. Interior Secretary Gale Norton said.
Daily crude-oil output from the Gulf rose by 40,000 barrels from yesterday and gas output increased by 330 million cubic feet, a report today from the U.S. Minerals Management Service showed.
That left 90 percent of pre-storm oil production and 72 percent of gas output halted almost six weeks after Katrina made landfall. Less than 10 percent was off line six weeks after Ivan, Norton told reporters at a press conference today in Washington.
''We are not seeing that kind of quick recovery this time around,'' Norton said. ''Most significantly, onshore oil terminals and natural-gas processing facilities have been damaged. Those onshore facilities also make it difficult to restore the offshore production.''
Damage to onshore oil and gas processing facilities is responsible for 30 percent of halted production in the Gulf, said Johnnie Burton, director of the Minerals Management Service, which is an arm of the Interior Department.
It could take ''several months'' to repair some of the processing plants, Norton said.
Returning Workers-Many of the workers who were evacuated from offshore platforms lost their homes along the coast because of the hurricanes, slowing their return, Norton said. It may take another 10 days to fully staff the platforms, she said. The recovery effort also is hampered by damage to ports handling supplies and equipment for offshore facilities.
The storms destroyed 109 production platforms in the Gulf, the report from the Minerals Management Service showed. All but one, Chevron Corp.'s Typhoon platform were ''not significant producers,'' Norton said. The smaller platforms accounted for 1.5 percent of all Gulf oil production and 0.7 percent of natural gas output before the hurricanes, she said.
''We anticipate that most of these will never be rebuilt,'' she said.
The restoration of production also awaits the completion of inspections of underwater pipelines that move oil and natural gas to shore. The pipelines must be inspected for possible damage from the anchors of drilling rigs that were dislodged by the storms.