The Oil Drum: Hurricane Dean and Cantarell, Things Just Got Worse

This is an update from yesterday’s post. Hurricane Dean became a Category 5 storm last night with winds reaching 165 mph and reaching a low pressure of 914 mb (Katrina was 920 mb and Camille 909 mb).

If the current forecast holds we could be talking about 2.5 million barrels per day of supply capacity being shut in for a while, and some of that for an extended amount of time.

Can that matter when the US consumes about 21 million barrels per day (and the world consumes 85 mbpd)? Yes. Especially when there isn’t “slack” supply to be brought to market. That is what “peak oil” is about…but why aren’t the markets reacting? If Category 2 winds can get to Cantarell’s rigs, things may change in a hurry.

There is now a good likelihood that the Mexican offshore platforms will be exposed to at least Category 1 level winds (74-95 mph) with some places reaching even a little bit higher speeds in Category 2 range. Khebab’s Google Mashup follows. Help us spread this around please…!

The Oil Drum