HOUSTON (Reuters) – Oil producers shut down 13% of crude oil production on Saturday ahead of tropical storms Laura and Marco, who are forecasting to grind the Gulf of Mexico in the coming days, U.S. government data showed.
Storms Marco and Laura are on the verge of becoming hurricanes and making back-to-back landfalls off the central Gulf Coast by the middle of the week. It is rare to spin two in the Gulf at the same time and has concerns about double barrel hits to coastal communities.
However, one of the storms is not expected to be a major hurricane, and its potential tracks cover a wide area of the Gulf Coast, preachers said.
Murphy Oil Corp. and BHP evacuated some workers on Saturday and Royal Dutch Shell Plc began shutting down oil and gas production at most of its offshore operations. Murphy made plans for possible cuts to production, the company said.
BP Plc and Chevron Corp. began production shutdowns on Friday. Occidental Petroleum, the third largest offshore producer of Gulf of Mexico, said it was carrying out water-changing procedures.
Producers stopped 240,785 tons per day of oil production and 119 million cubic feet per day of natural gas exports by noon on Saturday, said regulator U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.
Crews were evacuated from six production and four drilling rigs. Another seven drilling vessels were displaced from the storm path, BSEE reported.
Storm Marco picked up 65 miles per hour (100 km / h) of wind on Saturday, and was expected to become a category Hurricane before falling Monday in southeastern Louisiana. Storm Laura is expected to become a Category One Hurricane and reach Marco’s northern Gulf Coast in a day or two.
“We do not see the intensity and amplification of risk,” said Matt Rogers, chairman of Commodity Weather Group, which advises energy and agricultural companies. The chance of either a damaging, Category Three storm is just 10%, he said.
Unlike Hurricane Harvey, which hit the region three years ago, no one is expected to collapse the country, he said, reducing the risk of coastal flooding.
Helicopters sailed across the Gulf of Mexico Saturday, transporting workers from platforms in precautionary measures, said Tony Hermans, base manager at the Bristow Galliano helicopter in southern Louisiana. Planned evacuations will be completed by Sunday, he said.
Offshore wells of the Gulf of Mexico account for 17% of total crude oil production in the US and 5% of total natural gas production in the US. The region along the coasts of Texas to Mississippi also accounts for 45% of total U.S. petroleum refining capacity.
Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, a major oil export and import terminal, reported that it had begun processing weather.
(Report by Gary McWilliams and Erwin Seba; Edited by Daniel Wallis and Alistair Bell)
