Most GOM oil production shut in as Ivan advances

By OGJ editors

HOUSTON, Sept. 14 -- Most oil production has been shut in and half of the manned platforms and mobile rigs in the Gulf of Mexico have been evacuated as Hurricane Ivan threatens oil and gas operations in those waters.

The US Minerals Management Service said Tuesday afternoon that 382 of the 764 manned platforms and 60 of the 117 mobile rigs in the gulf had been or were in the process of being evacuated. More than 1 million b/d of oil production and nearly 4.2 bcfd of gas production were shut in as a result of the storm, said MMS officials. That's equivalent to 61.3% of daily oil production and 34.1% of daily natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico, they said.

Several Gulf Coast refiners were in the process of systematically shutting down their operations while keeping an eye on Ivan's progress.

Ivan was reported Tuesday afternoon to be 405 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River, moving northwest at nearly 9 mph. It had weakened to a Category 4 storm on the Saffir-Simpson measurement scale from its earlier top Category 5 ranking. But it still packs winds up to 140 mph with stronger gusts, said forecasters.

They reported Ivan still could hit anywhere from the Florida Panhandle to the Texas-Louisiana border sometime early Thursday.

Earlier Tuesday, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said there is a 22% chance that Ivan would make a direct hit on that city. He declared a state of emergency and strongly recommended residents evacuate immediately. Public and private schools in many of Louisiana's coastal parishes already have closed and some businesses and public offices were closing their doors.

Mandatory evacuations were ordered for St. Charles and Plaquemines parishes, and officials strongly urged residents of Jefferson Parish to begin leaving. Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco declared a state of emergency Monday,