Oil, Gas Companies Try to Reach Employees in Wake of Katrina

Oil and gas companies are stepping up efforts to reach hundreds of employees who remain unaccounted for days after Hurricane Katrina slammed the Gulf of Mexico.

Companies want their workers to call hotlines posted on company Web sites or, at the very least, get word to supervisors through someone that they’re safe.
There is an urgency to hear from them, but we have to be patient because the devastation is so severe that their first priority is taking care of their family and personnel needs,” said John Hofmeister, president of Houston-based Shell Oil Co.

Shell’s workforce in the Gulf is about 4,500 people, some of whom work on refineries shut down in Convent, La., and Norco, La.

Hofmeister said it’s especially difficult to learn what’s going on because of restricted access to the hardest hit areas.

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