Factbox: Hurricane Threat Forces Gulf Coast Energy Facilities in the U.S. to Scale Back Operations

Energy companies operating in the U.S. Gulf Coast have begun to reduce operations and evacuate personnel from production sites in anticipation of a major hurricane expected later this week. The U.S. National Hurricane Center has indicated that a system labeled Potential Tropical Cyclone Nine is likely to strengthen rapidly over the Gulf of Mexico, with potential hurricane conditions arising by Wednesday and further intensifying into a major hurricane by Thursday.

This storm poses significant risks, including life-threatening storm surges and damaging winds, particularly for the northeastern Gulf Coast and the Florida Panhandle. Offshore production in this region contributes approximately 1.8 million barrels per day, which accounts for about 15% of the nation’s total crude production. Any disruptions in this output could impact U.S. oil supplies, likely leading to increased prices for both domestic and offshore crude oil.

As concerns grew regarding potential production cuts by oil and gas producers along the Gulf Coast due to the approaching hurricane, oil prices saw a noticeable increase.

Several companies have announced their evacuation and operational changes in response to the impending storm:

– Shell has begun evacuating non-essential personnel from its facilities in the Mars Corridor, pausing some drilling operations and shutting down production at its Stones and Appomattox facilities.
– Chevron has evacuated personnel from the Blind Faith, Petronius, Anchor, Big Foot, Jack/St. Malo, and Tahiti platforms, effectively shutting in production at these sites.
– Equinor has evacuated some staff from its Titan oil production platform.
– BP has removed non-essential personnel from the Argos, Atlantis, and Mad Dog platforms, halted production at Na Kika and Thunder Horse, and curtailed operations at Argos and Atlantis.

The actions taken by these companies highlight the potential disruption in oil production as they prepare for the storm’s impact.