By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Sept. 14 -- Early reports indicate Hurricane Ike did more damage to production equipment in the Gulf of Mexico than Hurricane Gustav did less than 2 weeks earlier.
Government officials in aircraft spotted at least 10 production platforms that appeared to have been destroyed, the Associate Press reported.
AP said Lars Herbst, regional manager of the US Minerals Management Service, stressed that the assessment was preliminary.
Officials also detected damage to several large pipelines, AP reported.
Hurricane Ike made landfall early Sept. 13 near Galveston, Tex. (OGJ Online, Sept. 14, 2008). Damage from Hurricane Gustav, which went ashore near Morgan City, La., Sept. 1, appears to have been minimal but was still under study when preparations began for Hurricane Ike.
On Sept. 13, MMS reported two mobil drilling rigs adrift in the Central Gulf of Mexico. MMS said the rigs were in an area of "minimal infrastructure," according to a prestorm risk analysis.
