20% of GOM Oil Production Remains Shut In After Hurricane Francine

A fifth of oil production in the Gulf of Mexico and some 28% of natural gas production remain shut in after Hurricane Francine made landfall in Louisiana last week.

That’s according to the latest data from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, which said Sunday that staff remains evacuated from 37 production platforms in the Gulf, which represents almost 10% of the manned platforms in the area.

The portion of oil production that remains offline represents around 339,000 barrels daily. The amount of natural gas production that remains suspended is about 515 million cu ft daily.

Last week, oil prices rose substantially thanks to the production disruption that Francine caused in the Gulf of Mexico. On Wednesday, when Francine reached the Louisiana coast, as much as 46% of manned production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico were evacuated, with some 40% of crude oil production affected. Almost half of natural gas production in the GOM was shut in as well last week.

Offshore platforms in the Gulf of Mexico produce some 14% of total U.S. crude oil production, per Energy Information Administration data. The Gulf also contributes 5% of total natural gas production.

The Gulf Coast also accounts for almost half of U.S. oil refining capacity and 51% of gas processing capacity. Francine disrupted these operations, too, with some refiners cutting processing rates ahead of the storm.

Exxon and Shell were among these, reducing operating rates at their facilities in Baton Rouge and Norco, respectively. As of Friday, Exxon had ramped up rates and Shell was examining the state of its Norco facility in the wake of the storm.

The status of Marathon Petroleum’s Garyville refinery remains unclear after the company declined to discuss it and Reuters sources appeared to have no information about it. The publication noted there were power outages in the Garyville area. The refinery is the fourth-largest in the country.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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