Gulf oil companies prepare for deadly hurricane

HOUSTON (Reuters) – Gulf of Mexico oil and natural gas producers were evacuating offshore workers and shutting small amounts of production on Saturday as they watched powerful Hurricane Dean storm across the Caribbean Sea toward an entry into the Gulf next week.

Forecasts and computer models point Dean away from the paths taken by 2005’s devastating hurricanes Katrina and Rita through offshore oil production areas and onshore refining centers.


Taking a lesson from Katrina, which defied forecasts showing it would confine its damage to Florida, companies with operations from the central to western Gulf continued pulling support workers who were not essential to keeping offshore production running.

The U.S. Minerals Management Service said on Saturday that 10,300 barrels per day out of 1.3 million bpd in Gulf of Mexico oil production was shut in due to the threat of Hurricane Dean.

About 16 million cubic feet out of 7.7 billion cubic feet of daily natural gas output in the Gulf of Mexico has been shut, said the agency, which oversees offshore energy production.

So far, one production platform and two drilling rigs have been evacuated due to the storm.

Reuters