Hurricane Ida shuts 96pc of Gulf oil output

US offshore operators halted nearly all oil production in the Gulf of Mexico over the weekend as Hurricane Ida rolled ashore south of New Orleans, Louisiana.

Around 95.7pc of Gulf oil production and 93.8pc of natural gas production were paused as of 12:30pm ET today, the US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) said.

Shell, BP, Chevron, BHP and Equinor were among those moving in recent days to evacuate workers from 288 of the 560 manned platforms in the region, which accounts for about 17pc of total US crude output and 5pc of dry-gas production.

Hurricane Ida was upgraded to a Category 4 hurricane over the weekend and made landfall in southeastern Louisiana in the early afternoon today. Category 4 is the second-most severe rating assigned by the National Hurricane Center.
A hurricane watch remained in effect from Intracoastal City, Louisiana, to the Louisiana/Mississippi border, as well as for the Lake Pontchartrain, Lake Maurepas and Metropolitan New Orleans regions, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The storm was tracking about 55 miles southwest of New Orleans at 1pm today, on the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's disastrous landfall in the US Gulf. Maximum sustained winds had increased to 150mph (240 km/h) and catastrophic wind damage was expected throughout the southeastern coastal area of Louisiana, which is home to several large oil refineries.

Offshore operators at Shell's deepwater Stones field about 200 miles (322km) southwest of New Orleans, Louisiana, would start work to resume partial production once the storm passed. The company continued shut-ins at its Ursa, Mars, Olympus, Auger, Enchilada/Salsa and Appomattox assets after evacuating workers on 26 August.

Chevron said on 28 August that all of its operated platforms in the Gulf remained shut. The company added today that its Fourchon and Empire terminals in Louisiana were shut alongside related pipeline systems.

BP said today that work at its platforms in the Gulf remained suspended and that its mobile drilling units were evading the storm. ExxonMobil said it had evacuated offshore personnel from the Hoover platform in the Gulf.

Production shut-ins placed upward pressure on oil prices last week, but shutdowns at several US Gulf coast refineries in the path of the storm could pressure prices back down.

Phillips 66's 250,000 b/d Alliance refinery in Belle Chasse, Shell's 225,000 b/d refinery in Norco, Valero's 215,000 b/d refinery in St Charles and 135,000 b/d refinery in Meraux have all halted production before the hurricane. ExxonMobil's 500,000 b/d facility in Baton Rouge has shut some units and equipment.

By Dylan Chase