Recovering: US Gulf production slowly returns
US Gulf production slowly returning
Offshore oil and gas operators in the Gulf of Mexico are re-boarding platforms and rigs and restoring production following both Hurricane Gustav and Hurricane Ike.
The US Minerals Management reports that based on data from offshore operators submitted personnel are evacuated from a total of 225 production platforms, equivalent to 31.4 % of the 717 manned platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.
Personnel from 7 rigs have also been evacuated; this is equivalent to 5.8 % of the 121 rigs currently operating in the Gulf.
From the operators’ reports, it is estimated that about 76.6 % of the oil production in the Gulf is shut-in. As of June, estimated oil production from the Gulf of Mexico is 1.3 million barrels of oil per day.
It is also estimated that around 65.5 % of the natural gas production in the Gulf is shut-in. As of June, estimated natural gas production from the Gulf of Mexico was 7 billion cubic feet of gas per day.
Since that time, gas production from the Independence Hub facility has increased and current gas production from the Gulf is estimated at 7.4 billion cubic feet of gas per day.