HOUSTON (Reuters) – About 30% of output and 41% of production in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico remained offline on Saturday after Hurricane France hit, the U.S. offshore energy regulator said.
Francine made landfall in Louisiana with sustained winds of 100 miles per hour (161 km/h), passing through major oil and gas production areas in the US Gulf of Mexico. The midweek storm toppled trees, flooded coastal areas and knocked out power in four states. About 37,000 customers were without power in Louisiana on Saturday.
A survey of offshore energy producers showed more than 522,000 barrels of oil production and 755 million cubic feet of natural gas remained offline on Saturday.
There were 52 oil and gas platforms not manned by energy workers on Saturday, about 14% of the region’s total, down from a peak of 171 evacuated earlier in the week, the maritime regulator said.
Both of them Chevron On Saturday, the company said (NYSE:) platforms were operating at lower rates due to an onshore gas plant disruption. Full production in two – Jack/St. Malo and Bigfoot – will be restored after the land fault is cleared.
Chevron did not identify the operator of the gas plant.
The second-largest U.S. oil producer said it was continuing to bring back workers and restore oil production at its Anchor and Tahiti platforms, which were shut down in the run-up to Hurricane Francine. Initial assessments show no major damage, Chevron said.
(This story has been corrected in paragraph 3 to correct the regulator’s name to the Safety and Environmental Protection Bureau)
