Lee shuts in more than half of Gulf oil and gas

Gulf of Mexico oil and gas companies have shut-in 60 percent of the region’s oil production and 54.6 percent of the natural gas output as Tropical Storm Lee churns over the Louisiana coast.

Companies began moving non-essential workers to shore and shutting down production from offshore platforms early in the week in anticipation of the storm system.

Weather conditions on Friday brought evacuations to a stand-still, leaving hundreds of workers offshore to ride out the storm.

As of Saturday 60.3 percent of oil production and 54.6 percent of natural gas production in the Gulf had been shut in due to the storm, according to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement. BOEMRE releases updated figures at 1 p.m. today.

Workers have been evacuated from 237 of the 617 manned production platforms in the Gulf and 23 of the 62 manned drilling rigs, BOEMRE said.

About 30 percent of U.S. oil production and 12 percent of natural gas production come from the Gulf of Mexico, according to BOEMRE. About 30 percent of natural gas processing capacity and 40 percent of refining capacity is located along the Gulf Coast.

Typically companies first remove workers not involved in production operations — such as cooks and some maintenance workers — to shore. Since workers must be evacuated either via helicopter or ship, a process that can take nearly a day in some cases, companies start to move workers days before a storm is expected to hit an area.

Once the storm passes crews that remain on board the platforms will start to bring production back online slowly.

Companies will also dispatch planes and helicopters to fly over the abandoned platforms to assess for damage before returning crews.

FuelFix