US Gulf operators return to facilities after storm

US Gulf of Mexico operators this week returned to their assets to assess damage and begin restarting production that had been shut in ahead of Hurricane Laura, which battered the region before making landfall in Louisiana last Thursday.

As of Tuesday this week, about 28% of the region's crude production, or 525,099 barrels per day, remained shut in, according to estimates from the US Bureau of Safety & Environmental Enforcement (BSEE).

That figure is down from a peak of 1.5 million bpd, or roughly 84% of output, which was shut in ahead of the storm.

The BSEE also said that 25% of the region's natural gas production also remained off line on Tuesday, amounting to about 676.5 million cubic feet per day.

Operators had previously shut in as much as 1.6 billion cubic feet per day, or about 61% of natural gas output from the US Gulf.

Supermajors Shell, BP and Chevron all said they were returning staff to assets that had been shut in and evacuated ahead of the storm. A spokesman for Hess told Upstream on Monday the company was in the process of ramping operations back up as well.

However, a key pipeline serving four offshore platforms remained off line days after the storm and was placed back in service on Tuesday this week.

According to an informational posting, operator Enbridge declared force majeure on the pipeline last week after staff conducted an inspection of its South Marsh Island 76 platform, which was undamaged. The communications system remained down, however.

The 1 Bcfd Garden Banks pipeline serves Shell's Auger and Enchilada platforms as well as Hess's Baldpate facility and the W&T Offshore-operated Magnolia platform. The pipeline was back in service Tuesday and was available for nominations, an Enbridge spokesman told Upstream.

Onshore, the storm claimed 14 lives, and levelled buildings and flooded communities in the area around Lake Charles, according to reports.

However, liquefied natural gas developers Cheniere, Sempra and Venture Global reported the storm had caused minimal damage to their sites in the region, while the ExxonMobil-Qatar Petroleum Golden Pass LNG consortium said construction of its facility remained on track after an initial assessment.

Cheniere said on Monday it had begun the process of restarting production at its Sabine Pass LNG facility in Louisiana and the company lifted a force majeure on its Creole Trail pipeline feeding the facility later that day.

Nine onshore refineries had been shuttered ahead of Hurricane Laura, and last week Valero Energy began restarting its 335,000 bpd Port Arthur, Texas, refinery while ExxonMobil was preparing to restart its 370,000 bpd Beaumont, Texas refinery.

However, Citgo Petroleum and Phillips 66 said reviews to their refineries could take days and a restart date could not be estimated, according to a Redburn note.

Repairs to Citgo's 418,000 bpd Lake Charles, Louisiana, plant could take four to six weeks, according to a note from Mizuho Securities.