US Gulf oil output little changed from yesterday

US Gulf of Mexico oil and gas producers' efforts to restore operations suspended by to Hurricane Ida may be reaching an impasse, with more than three quarters of oil output still off line 11 days after the storm made landfall.

The volume of offshore oil output halted was at 76pc, or 1.392mn b/d, as of 12:30pm ET today, according to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE). That is down by just 7,000 b/d from yesterday. The volume of natural gas production did not change from yesterday, with about 77pc of offshore production in the US Gulf down. Two more offshore platforms were restaffed since yesterday (see table).

While companies reported that most major production platforms appeared to be relatively undamaged, it appeared damage to smaller support structures that move the oil and gas to shore — as well as power outages at terminals and other onshore facilities that receive those streams — are slowing the pace of progress.

Shell declared a force majeure today on "numerous" crude delivery contracts from the Gulf because of damage to one such shallow-water structure, the West Delta-143 platform that moved 233,000 b/d of Mars crude from three Shell platforms — Mars, Olympus and Ursa — in the first seven months of the year.

A slow restart to critical onshore support facilities is also contributing to slowing offshore recovery.

US crude production fell by 1.5mn b/d to 10mn b/d last week amid the offshore outages, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Crude exports dropped by about 700,000 b/d to 2.3mn b/d as Ida caused shipping disruptions.

Shell estimates that 80pc of its offshore production remains off line, with the Appomattox, Mars, Olympus, Ursa, Auger, and Enchilada/Salsa platforms still shut in. Late yesterday, the company said it was starting the process of redeploying staff to Appomattox, and continuing to return workers to its Enchilada/Salsa and Auger facilities.

Chevron said it has redeployed key personnel to all six of its operated facilities in the Gulf of Mexico, and restored partial output from its Jack St Malo platform.

"Crews are continuing to work to resume production at our other locations that were shut-in due to the storm," the company said in a statement today.

Chevron's Fourchon terminal has back-up power established and is operational in a reduced capacity. It is ready to receive barrels from connecting pipelines when Gulf of Mexico assets have restarted. Tests are under way at the Empire Terminal — which is the onshore landing place for a number of offshore oil pipelines — before starting up.

By Stephen Cunningham