Chevron Removes Personnel From Two Gulf Platforms as Hurricane Looms

Chevron has removed all non-essential personnel from two platforms in the Gulf of Mexico ahead of tropical storm Debby, which is on its way there.

“There has been no effect to production at our Chevron-operated assets due to the tropical weather,” the company said in a statement as quoted by Reuters.

This is the second storm to pass through the Gulf of Mexico in the past month, after Beryl, which had strengthened into a hurricane before weakening back to a tropical storm before making its landfall on the Yucatan Peninsula in early July.

Platforms were evacuated then as well but there was no significant effect on oil and gas production in the Gulf.

Unlike Beryl, Debbie is expected to strengthen into a hurricane later today before making landfall in northern Florida.

There have been no reports of other oil companies operating in the Gulf of Mexico evacuating personnel from their platforms there.

The effect of the Chevron news on prices remains uncertain as does the effect that Debby would have on oil production in the Gulf. A month ago, benchmarks fell when Beryl made landfall because it caused almost no damage to production and refining operations. The fact that there is no large-scale evacuation effort among operators suggests there will be no effect of the latest storm on Gulf production.

Last week, Chevron reported weaker-than-expected second-quarter earnings, attributing the figures to weaker refining margins and low natural gas prices.

Record oil and gas production in the Permian and higher U.S. output for Chevron after the integration of PDC Energy couldn’t offset weak refining margins in both the U.S. and globally.

The company’s U.S. net oil-equivalent production was up by 353,000 barrels per day from a year earlier primarily due to the successful integration of PDC and record high production in the Permian Basin, the company said.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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