Chevron ramps up oil platform after tropical storm Claudette passes

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Chevron has started to ramp up production at its Tahiti oil platform after it was shut-in in preparation for tropical storm Claudette, the US-based oil and gas producer said on Sunday.

Claudette made landfall early on Saturday as a tropical storm roughly 45 miles (75 km) southwest of New Orleans, Louisiana, according to the National Hurricane Center. At the time, it had maximum sustained winds of nearly 45 miles/hour.

Louisiana is home to many petrochemical plants and refineries, and it was unclear on Sunday if the storm disrupted their operations.

There were few reports of outages in the state, according to the PowerOutage.us. The website keeps track of outages reported to utility companies.

Since making landfall, Claudette has weakened into a tropical depression as it travelled through the southeastern US.

As of 2000 hours local time (000 hour GMT), Claudette was 25 miles north-northwest of Columbia, South Carolina, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Claudette could strengthen before leaving the state of North Carolina and entering the Atlantic Ocean.

The following map shows the expected path of the storm.

Source: National Hurricane Center

Hurricanes and tropical storms can disrupt the North American petrochemical industry because many of the nation’s plants and refineries are along the US Gulf Coast in the states of Texas and Louisiana.

Over 45% of total US petroleum refining capacity is located along the Gulf coast, as well as 51% of total US natural gas processing plant capacity.

Tropical weather can also disrupt supplies of oil and natural gas.

The Gulf of Mexico federal offshore oil production accounts for 17% of total US crude oil production.

Federal offshore natural gas production in the Gulf accounts for 5% of total US dry production, according to the US Energy Information Agency (EIA).

Even the threat of a major storm can disrupt oil and natural gas supplies because companies often evacuate US Gulf platforms as a precaution.

The possible tropical storm comes on the heels on meteorologists forecasting a busy hurricane season, with hurricane researchers at Colorado State University (CSU) raising their prediction on the number of named storms to 18.

Of those, eight could become hurricanes and four could become a major hurricane with sustained winds at 74 miles/hour or higher.

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is predicting a 60% chance of an above-normal Atlantic hurricane season, although it does not anticipate the historic level of storm activity seen in 2020.

Additional reporting by Janet Miranda