Nearly 95% of the oil production in the US Gulf of Mexico was shut-in as a result of the impact of Hurricane Ida, with personnel evacuated from 288 platforms and 18 drilling rigs
With winds of 240 km/h, Hurricane Ida made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane in south Louisiana on 29 August, causing catastrophic damage, while killing at least one person and knocking out power for about 1M people in the New Orleans area. Hurricane Ida has been downgraded to a tropical depression as it moves north into Tennessee.
The US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement activated its Hurricane Response Team (HRT) as Hurricane Ida made its way through the US Gulf of Mexico. The HRT works with offshore operators and other state and federal agencies until operations return to normal and the storm is no longer a threat to Gulf of Mexico oil and gas activities.
Based on data from offshore operator reports submitted as of 30 August, personnel have been evacuated from 288 production platforms, 51.43% of the 560 manned platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.
Personnel have been evacuated from all 11 rigs (non-dynamically positioned) operating in the US Gulf of Mexico. Rigs can include several types of offshore drilling facilities including jack-up rigs, platform rigs, all submersibles and moored semi-submersibles.
Seven of 15 dynamically positioned rigs operating in the US Gulf of Mexico have moved off location as a precaution. Personnel remain on board and will return to the location once the storm has passed.
As part of the evacuation process, personnel activate the applicable shut in procedure, which can frequently be accomplished from a remote location. This involves closing the sub-surface safety valves located below the surface of the ocean floor to prevent the release of oil or gas, effectively shutting in production from wells in the Gulf of Mexico and protecting the marine and coastal environments. Shutting in oil and gas production is a standard procedure conducted by industry for safety and environmental reasons.
From operator reports, it is estimated approximately 1.72M barrels of oil per day or 94.6% of the current oil production and 93.57% of the gas production in the US Gulf of Mexico has been shut in. About 17% of US oil production comes from the US Gulf of Mexico.
After the storm has passed, facilities will be inspected. Once all standard checks have been completed, production from undamaged facilities will be brought back online immediately. Facilities sustaining damage may take longer to bring back online.
Riviera Maritime Media’s Offshore Energy Webinar Week is being held 6 September 2021 – use this link for more details and to register
© 2023 Riviera Maritime Media Ltd.