Katrina Targets Gulf of Mexico Oil
As hurricane Katrina gathered speed and strength to level 5, major oil companies have announnced production shut-downs in the Gulf of Mexico region. The region produces 1.5 million barrles of oil per day and 10 billion cubic feet of natural gas. The potential landfall on Monday morning near New Orleans may cause severe weather conditions in and aroud the city.
Katrina, the fourth hurricane in a season of eleven Atlantic coast tropical activities, is on its way as Category 5 hurricane to somewhere close to New Orleans, Louisiana. Katrina, hurricane category one, managed to down power lines, trees, and flood much of South Florida caused nine deaths.
The month of August has witnessed so far five storms including tropical storms Harvey Jose, tropical depression Ten, and two hurricanes Irene and Katrina.
The month of July saw unprecedented tropical cyclone activity in the Atlantic basin with the development of five storms tropical storms including two hurricanes. Tropical storms Cindy, Franklin and Gert were joined by hurricane Dennis and Emily.
According to the NHC, the previous record for named storms that formed in July was four. The two major hurricanes that developed during the month tied a record set in 1916. The July activity follows an unusually active month of June.
The predicted seasonal totals include the considerable activity that has already occurred prior to this update (7 tropical storms and 2 major hurricanes). Therefore, for the remainder of the season, NHC expects additional 11-14 tropical storms, with 7-9 becoming hurricanes, and 3-5 of these becoming major hurricanes.
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Shell, BP evacuate Gulf of Mexico workers due to Hurricane Katrina
Royal Dutch Shell PLC and BP PLC have evacuated workers from their platforms in the Gulf of Mexico as Hurricane Katrina heads towards the area.
Shell, in a statement, said it will evacuate around 120 non-essential staff from the eastern part of its Gulf operations as a 'precaution'.
A BP spokesman said it will also evacuate a still undetermined number of workers.
Both companies said the move will not affect their Gulf production.
Katrina came ashore in Florida on Thursday, killing at least three people and leaving about 1.5 mln
Katrina Could be in Gulf of Mexico by Saturday
Most of southeast Florida is under a hurricane watch as Tropical Storm Katrina moves closer to the state. Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami have posted tropical storm warnings and a hurricane watch from Florida City just south of Miami north to Vero Beach.
Katrina has maximum sustained winds of 40-miles per hour, but the storm is expected to grow stronger and become a minimal hurricane before it comes ashore Friday morning.
Katrina is expected to emerge over the Gulf of Mexico by Saturday morning and could re-strengthen before making
Gulf of Mexico acts as gale
Millions of people cowered in fear yesterday as Hurricane Katrina slammed into New Orleans and the Gulf Coast of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama with 225-kilometre-an-hour winds fuelled by the warm waters of the the Gulf of Mexico.
After stumbling across southern Florida as a weak category one storm late last week, Katrina wobbled into the Gulf and surged in strength over the next four days, becoming several times stronger before coming ashore yesterday as a category four hurricane with a storm track almost 640 km wide.
In terms of Gulf hurricanes, Katrina was almost the perfect storm.
"When
Hurricane Katrina enters the Gulf of Mexico
HURRICANE Katrina passed through southern Florida overnight Thursday and entered the Gulf of Mexico early Friday morning at a point north of and near Cape Sable, in the southwestern Florida peninsula, according to Official Note No. 12 from the Cuban Meteorological Institute’s Forecast Center.
Katrina, after weakening somewhat upon touching land, once again reached the category of hurricane; the storm now has sustained maximum winds of 120 kilometers per hour, with stronger gusts, and its central pressure has gone down to 987 hectoPascal, which is why is remains a Category 1 hurricane on the
Oil Production Down 78 Percent in Gulf of Mexico
The U.S. government says oil production in the Gulf of Mexico was nearly 80 percent below normal as of Saturday, five days after Hurricane Katrina tore through the region.
A report from the U.S. Minerals Management Service said Katrina had cut oil production in the Gulf by about 1.18 million barrels of oil per day. It said more than 280 offshore oil-drilling rigs and platforms remained evacuated.
The figures represent a slight improvement from Friday, when oil production in the Gulf was nearly 90 percent below normal.
Katrina's disruption to Gulf-area oil production and refineries
Katrina Gaining Strength in Gulf of Mexico
Residents of the Florida Panhandle and other parts of the Gulf Coast nervously monitored the path of Hurricane Katrina on Saturday as weary South Florida homeowners cleaned mud out of basements flooded by the storm and street crews canoed through miles of inundated roadways.
Katrina threatened an encore visit as early as Monday after ripping across southern Florida and killing seven people. But forecasters were uncertain of exactly where it might strike, saying the storm could make landfall anywhere from the Panhandle to Louisiana.
"The people of Pensacola don't need another one. They just don't need
Katrina Strengthens on a Path Through Gulf of Mexico (Update2)
Katrina strengthened as it headed into the Gulf of Mexico after it swept across southern Florida, killing four people and leaving more than one million homes without power.
The hurricane's center was about 60 miles (97 kilometers) west-northwest of Key West, Florida, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said in its 2 p.m. advisory. Katrina was moving west- southwest at about 8 mph (13 kph), the center said.
Katrina blasted the state with rain and wind, knocking down trees, tossing debris and wiping out power to more than a million
Several oil and gas facilities in the Gulf of Mexico have resumed operations following Hurricane Katrina. However, an industry analyst says the full extent of damage to generating facilities is still unknown.
Jim Flanagan of IHS Energy says the story of Hurricane Katrina is still unfolding. He says there's a lack of published reports by energy companies about damage done to their offshore facilities.
"I think it has a lot to do with, number one, some of the on-shore staging areas have been pretty much devastated," said Mr. Flanagan. "So, it's difficult to get transportation to and from some
Category 3 Hurricane Katrina Eyes Gulf Of Mexico Coast
New Orleans, Louisiana--Hurricane Katrina, is a Category 3 hurricane as predicted by Bayoubuzz meteorologist, Ed Roy. The storm is moving westward through the Southeastern Gulf of Mexico at a clip of 7 to 11 miles per hour, the Gulf Coast guessing game begins. The Katriana Eye at 8 a.m. EST was near latitude 24.4 North and Longitude 11 KM/Hr.
The slow moving storm has maximum sustained winds near 116 MPH and with higher gusts. A gradual turn toward the west-northwest is expected during the next 24 hours.
Hurricane forces
WASHINGTON, September 3 (Itar-Tass) -- Hurricane Katrina ruined 58 oilrigs in the Gulf of Mexico, a representative of the American Petroleum Institute said on Friday. He said 30 oilrigs could not be restored.
Apache oil company, which announced the loss of eight oilrigs producing about 7,200 barrels of oil and 12.1 million cubic meters of gas a day, suffered large damages.
American experts said that total losses in the oil production have amounted to daily 7.44 barrels since August 26.
The Gulf of Mexico was supplying up to 30% of all U.S. crude and one-fourth of natural gas to the
