UCF, Georgia Researchers Project Hurricane Effects On Oil, Gas Production

About 86 percent of oil production in the Gulf of Mexico and 59 percent of the natural gas output are being disrupted by Hurricane Katrina, according to a new prediction model developed by a University of Central Florida researcher and his Georgia colleague.

On their Web site, http:/​/​hurricane.methaz.org, UCF statistics professor Mark Johnson and Chuck Watson, founder of Kinetic Analysis Corp. of Savannah, Ga., also projected that 50.1 percent of oil output and 28.5 percent of natural gas output will be disrupted for more than 10 days.

Johnson and Watson calculated projected damage based on wind speeds, the severity of waves and other anticipated effects of the storm. The data reflect every active oil and gas lease in the Gulf of Mexico.

While the oil and gas production portion of the Web site is still in the experimental stage, it already is gaining attention from bloggers and economic- and investment-oriented Web sites.

Science Daily