The US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) activated its Hurricane Response Team and is monitoring offshore oil and gas operators in the US Gulf of Mexico as they evacuate platforms and rigs ahead of Hurricane Ian.
Based on data from offshore operator reports submitted to BSEE as of 11:30 CDT on Sept. 27, personnel have been evacuated from 12 production platforms, 2.3% of the 521 manned platforms in the US gulf.
BSEE estimates that 11% of current gulf crude oil production (about 190,358 b/d) is shut in and 8.56% of natural gas production (about 184 MMcfd) is shut in.
Personnel have been evacuated from 2 of the 13 nondynamically positioned rigs working in the gulf. Four of the 19 dynamically positioned rigs have moved off location out of the path of the storm.
After the storm has passed, infrastructure will be inspected. Once all standard checks have been completed, production from undamaged platforms will be brought back online immediately. Platforms sustaining damage may take longer to bring back online.
Chevron and bp have both updated media about personnel evacuations and platform shut-ins ahead of the storm, which is currently expected to make landfall south of Tampa, Fla., late Wednesday as a possible Cat 3 storm (OGJ Online, Sept. 27, 2022).
