Shell Oil said it has begun producing crude oil and natural gas from its Cougar and Enchilada units in the Gulf of Mexico.
“Today we began producing from our Cougar and Enchilada assets in the Gulf of Mexico, and the Yellowhammer Gas Processing Plant, in Mobile Bay, Alabama, is now operating,” the company said in a statement.
Shell did not elaborate on production levels.
The Enchilada unit, about 300 kilometres southwest of New Orleans, has a peak daily production from its two platforms of 32,800 barrels of crude and 52 million cubic metres of gas, according to the Shell website.
Shell’s Cougar platform is part of its Popeye field, about 225 kilometres south of New Orleans in 610 metres of water. Three wells in the Popeye field have had a combined daily production rate as high as 50 million cubic metres and 9,000 barrels of condensate.
The Yellowhammer plant is about 32 kilometres south of Mobile and can process 60 million cubic metres of natural gas each day.
Shell also said it may be able to restart its hurricane-hit Motiva Convent refinery in Louisiana as early as Sunday, and its Motiva Norco refinery by the middle of next week.
The Convent refinery has a capacity of 230,000 barrels per day and the Norco refinery is rated at 240,000 bpd.
“Repair work at the Motiva Convent Refinery should be completed this weekend and start-up of the refinery could occur as early as this Sunday,” Shell said in a statement.
The Convent refinery is located 48 kilometres southeast of Baton Rouge.
Repairs are still under way at its Motiva Norco Refinery, and that could restart operations “in the middle of next week", the company said. The Norco refinery is adjacent to the Mississippi River, about 32 kilometres west of New Orleans.
“Both plants will be brought up gradually and safely towards full production over several days once start-ups begin,” Shell said.
Source: The Age.com.au
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
Shell Swaps Stake in Gulf of Mexico Field
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) - Royal Dutch Shell PLC said Thursday it will swap its 17 percent stake in the Gulf of Mexico's Tahiti field for Total SA's interests in natural gas assets in South Texas.
The Tahiti field, nearly 190 miles southwest of New Orleans, is operated by Chevron Corp. Total said first production is planned for mid-2008 from a floating production facility with daily capacity of 125,000 barrels of oil and 70 million cubic feet of natural gas.
Source: news.moneycentral.msn.com
BP, Shell say Gulf of Mexico ops still suspended
BP PLC and the Royal Dutch Shell said their operations at the Gulf of Mexico remained suspended even as initial inspection showed the offshore facilities sustained little damage from Hurricane Rita.
'The (US Gulf) facilities as of Monday are still completely shut. The situation is still the same,' said a BP spokeswoman.
BP continues to check the facilities and will not allow operations to resume until it is completely certain that it is safe to do so.
'Initial assessment on Sunday via aerial overflights and small crews placed on several BP-operated deepwater
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
BHP Billiton says Gulf of Mexico production remains shut
Australia's BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) said Wednesday that oil production at its Gulf of Mexico rigs is still shut after hurricane Katrina caused devastation in the area.
There is little damage to BHP's facilities, but the disruption at refineries means production will be stopped for much longer than previously thought, a BHP spokeswoman said.
She said the company doesn't know how long.
Last week, BHP said it expected oil production to be shut off for a couple of days, after it evacuated crews and moved its rigs in preparation for the hurricane.
BHP Billiton says most Gulf of Mexico output restored
Anglo-Australian resources group BHP Billiton (BHP) said Thursday that production has restarted at most of its Gulf of Mexico oil wells, which stopped production last week because of Hurricane Katrina.
"All fields are in production except Boris and Mad Dog," a Melbourne-based spokeswoman said.
BHP produces about 25,000 barrels of oil a day in the Gulf, from the Mad Dog, West Cameron, Genesis, Green Canyon, Typhoon and Boris fields.
Teams are working to get the remaining two fields back into production as soon as possible, the spokeswoman said.
The statement was made
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
Newfield Reports on Resumption of Gulf of Mexico Production Following '05 Storms
Newfield Exploration Company (NYSE: NFX - News) today provided a progress report on the resumption of its production in the Gulf of Mexico following 2005 storms and hurricanes. Newfield estimates that the storms will result in the deferral of approximately 22 billion cubic feet equivalent (Bcfe) of anticipated 2005 production. As a result, Newfield now expects that full-year 2005 production will total approximately 242 Bcfe.
David A. Trice, Newfield Chairman, President and CEO, commented: "Recovery from Hurricane Rita has been much slower than we originally projected with most of the
Chevron evacuating Gulf of Mexico workers before Rita
Chevron Corp. said Monday it is evacuating oil rig workers in the Gulf of Mexico before Tropical Storm Rita hits, a move which could reduce oil production in the region.
based Chevron (NYSE:CVX) told Reuters that its evacuations were a normal procedure, similar to what it did before Hurricane Katrina blew through the Gulf.
Chevron didn't say how the evacuation will affect its oil or natural gas production.
Tropical Storm Rita was heading toward the Florida Keys and several weather models projected it would enter the Gulf and become a category one hurricane.
Reuters
All Gulf of Mexico crude prod halted
Essentially all Gulf of Mexico crude oil production and 30 percent of U.S. oil refinery production was shut as Hurricane Rita approached the Texas and Louisiana coasts.
Oil prices dropped Friday afternoon as Rita was downgraded to a Category 3 at maximum sustained winds of 125 mph.
About 72 percent of natural gas production was shut in by Friday, the U.S. Minerals Management Service said.
The MMS said 99.1 percent of crude production was shut.
The storm has forced shut 15 big U.S. refineries, adding to the four that had remained shut after Hurricane Katrina
