Storm forces evacuations in Gulf of Mexico

By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, June 30 -- Operators have begun removing workers from platforms and rigs in the Gulf of Mexico in anticipation of Hurricane Alex.

The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement (BOE) reported on June 29 that 28 platforms and 3 rigs had been evacuated, resulting in the shut-in of 396,000 b/d of oil and 600 MMcfd of gas production.

The shut-in production’s shares of gulf totals are 25% of oil and 9% of natural gas.

Before the evacuations, 51 rigs were work in the gulf, which has 634 manned platforms.

The storm was expected to make landfall in northern Mexico late June 30. It did not disrupt work on the oil spill from the Macondo well blowout off Louisiana.