BSEE: Evacuations, shut-ins continue ahead of Hurricane Harvey making landfall

Aug. 25, 2017
Oil and gas operators in the US Gulf of Mexico continued evacuation efforts from offshore platforms and rigs to clear a path for Hurricane Harvey, which continued to strengthen Aug. 25 and was expected to make landfall along the Texas coast as a Category 3 storm.

Oil and gas operators in the US Gulf of Mexico continued evacuation efforts from offshore platforms and rigs to clear a path for Hurricane Harvey, which continued to strengthen Aug. 25 and was expected to make landfall along the Texas coast as a Category 3 storm.

Based on data from offshore operator reports submitted to the US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement as of 11:30 CDT on Aug. 25, personnel have been evacuated from 86 production platforms, 11.67% of the 737 manned platforms in the US gulf.

Personnel also have been evacuated from 4 nondynamically positioned rigs, equal to 40% of the 10 rigs of this type currently operating in the gulf. One dynamically positioned (DP) rig has moved off location out of the storm’s path as a precaution. There are currently 21 DP rigs operating in the gulf.

BSEE estimates that 21.55% of current gulf crude oil production, or 377,117 b/d, and 23.24% of natural gas production, or 748 MMcfd, have been shut in.

According to the most recent advisory from the National Hurricane Center, the storm had winds of 120 mph and was 70 miles east-southeast of Corpus Cristi, Tex., and was moving northwest at 10 mph.