Gulf oil, natgas production still shut in

05 September 2008 20:17  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--Most of the crude oil production in the Gulf of Mexico remains shut in as a result of Hurricane Gustav, a US agency said on Friday.

As of 11:30 Houston time (16:30 GMT), 90.5% of the Gulf's crude oil production remained shut in, according to the Minerals Management Service (MMS). In addition, 79.8% of the Gulf's natural gas production was shut in.

Companies have evacuated 334 out of 717 platforms and 34 out of 121 rigs in the Gulf, the MMS said.

Companies are in the process of returning personnel to their offshore rigs and platforms.

Shell has completed damage and safety assessments of its Gulf operations, and none had suffered significant damage, the company said.

Shell expects to start up most of its Gulf operations late in the weekend, the company said.

However, some of Shell's offshore plants and refineries still lacked power, which is delaying any restarts.

The Motiva Convent refinery, the Shell Chemical Norco facility and the Shell Chemical Geismar still did not have full access to power, Shell said.

Nonetheless, some units in each of the complexes could start up some time next week, Shell said. The Motiva Norco refinery has most of its power restored, and it could start producing gasoline as early as Sunday.

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By: Al Greenwood
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