US Oil, Gas Industry Look to Past Storms for Future Improvements

The deadly hurricanes of 2005 have forced the U.S. offshore oil and natural gas industry to reevaluate and make changes in the way they operate their rigs to protect and preserve mining the nation’s largest source of oil and natural gas.

Waves from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita reduced drilling rigs into “pickup sticks” on the ocean floor, said Frank Puskar, president of Energo Engineering during a panel discussion on hurricane preparedness at the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston Tuesday.


The storms destroyed some 190 oil rigs of the existing 3,900 and cut into, at one point, 100% of U.S. oil production in the region. About 30% of U.S. oil and about 23% of the nation’s gas comes from Gulf of Mexico wells.

While it will be hard to determine exactly how to keep such infrastructure out of harm’s way in the event of another storm, the industry is working fast and furiously to elevate rigs higher, tie them down tighter and upgrade design standards while keeping a keen eye on exactly which parts of the Gulf are most trafficked by storms.

Rigzone