US offshore production remains idled by Ida
About half of the drilling platforms in the US waters of the Gulf of Mexico remain evacuated and most of the oil and gas production is idled because of Hurricane Ida, the federal government reported September 1.
Ida made landfall August 29 in Louisiana as a category 4 hurricane, but weakened quickly as it moved northeast.
|
Advertisement: The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (NGC) NGC’s HSSE strategy is reflective and supportive of the organisational vision to become a leader in the global energy business. |
Operators early last week started to make preparations ahead of landfall by moving mobile rigs, pulling staff off their platforms and shutting in production. The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement reported that 44.5% of the platforms and 82% of the rigs remained evacuated as of September 1.
In terms of output, the agency estimated that about 80% of the total oil production and 83% of the natural gas production was still offline. Many of the Gulf Coast LNG export facilities were largely unaffected by the storm.
Ida knocked out power up and down the US Gulf Coast, idling several refineries. As with some production, those downstream components are slowly returning to service as the storm clean up progresses.
Intense rain from the remnants of Ida overwhelmed the drainage systems in New York City, prompting a weather emergency. Most port facilities were unscathed, though some traffic for containerships was curtailed by the storm.