Shell Gulf of Mexico pumping platform damaged by Ida

A Shell offshore transfer station that handles crude from several deepwater production platforms, including Mars, Olympus and Ursa, was damaged by Hurricane Ida.

Shell observed damage to its West Delta-143 offshore facilities while conducting an initial flyover, the company said today. The fixed platform is located in about 370 ft of water where a number of undersea oil pipelines meet.

Shell plans to send personnel to the offshore facility when it is safe in order to provide a closer inspection "to understand the full extent of the damage and the degree to which production will likely be impacted."

The West Delta-143 facilities serve as a transfer station for all production from assets in the Mars corridor in the Mississippi Canyon area of the Gulf of Mexico to onshore crude terminals. The Mars corridor includes the Shell-operated Mars, Olympus, and Ursa platforms.

Most of Shell's oil and gas production assets in the US Gulf of Mexico remain off line, except for the Turritella floating production, storage and offloading vessel and the Perdido asset in the southwestern Gulf, which was never disrupted by the hurricane.

Shell said earlier this week it is halting crew changes on offshore assets after its primary crew-change heliport in Houma, Louisiana, sustained significant damage from Ida, which made landfall in Port Fourchon, Louisiana, on 29 August as a Category 4 storm.

By Eunice Bridges