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 has caused a spike in U.S. gasoline prices, and an increase in crude oil prices on world markets.
Source: voanews.com
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
Crude Oil Is Little Changed as U.S. Gulf of Mexico Output Drops
Crude oil was little changed, rebounding from the session's lows, after a government report showed that U.S. oil production fell in the Gulf of Mexico.
Oil production was 901,726 barrels below pre-storm levels, almost 5 percent more than reported yesterday, the Minerals Management Service said in a daily report. Prices declined earlier today on an Energy Department report that showed U.S. supplies of crude oil and petroleum products declined less than expected in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
``There are obviously still some problems out in the Gulf,''
Offshore U.S. crude oil production in the Gulf of Mexico was totally shut on Saturday with natural gas output also lower, the U.S. Minerals Management Service said in its daily report logging the impact of Hurricane Rita and the prior Hurricane Katrina.
MMS said the percentage of oil output shut was 100 percent, up from 99.125 percent on Friday. The normal daily oil output from Gulf of Mexico operations is 1.5 million barrels per day.
The report said 1.5 million bpd of crude oil production was shut as Saturday, in contrast to 1.486 million bpd reported shut on Friday.
For natural
Offshore U.S. crude oil production in the Gulf of Mexico was totally shut on Saturday with natural gas output also lower, the U.S. Minerals Management Service said in its daily report logging the impact of Hurricane Rita and the prior Hurricane Katrina.
MMS said the percentage of oil output shut was 100 percent, up from 99.125 percent on Friday. The normal daily oil output from Gulf of Mexico operations is 1.5 million barrels per day.
The report said 1.5 million bpd of crude oil production was shut as Saturday, in contrast to 1.486 million bpd reported shut on Friday.
For natural gas,
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.
US Gulf of Mexico oil output 100 pct shut-MMS
Offshore U.S. crude oil production in the Gulf of Mexico was totally shut for the second straight day on Sunday with natural gas output also lower, the U.S. Minerals Management Service said in its daily report logging the impact of Hurricane Rita and the prior Hurricane Katrina.
The MMS said the percentage of oil output shut was 100 percent for both Sunday and Saturday, up from 99.125 percent on Friday. The normal daily oil output from Gulf of Mexico operations is 1.5 million barrels per day.
For natural gas, 8.047 billion cubic feet
Rita shuts down oil production in Gulf of Mexico
The impending strike of Hurricane Rita on the Texas coast poses as much of a risk to chemical output as it does to oil production and refining, analysts say, threatening shortages of key chemicals in coming days and weeks.
An estimated 72 percent of all U.S. production capacity for ethylene was in the strike area of Rita.
"About 72 percent of U.S. ethylene capacity is in the risk area, while 26 percent of U.S. refinery capacity is there," said an analyst .
The devastating effects of Katrina on the Gulf of Mexico also pushed natural
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
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
Oil, Gasoline Rise as Hurricane Rita Shuts Gulf of Mexico Rigs
Crude oil and gasoline climbed as Hurricane Rita threatened rigs, refineries and platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, less than a month after Hurricane Katrina struck.
Producers including BP Plc and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. evacuated staff and shut off-shore operations in the Gulf. Rita may reach the coast of Texas, the producer of a quarter of the nation's refined fuel, by Friday. The storm is expected to grow as strong as Katrina, which shut down nearly 10 percent of U.S. refining capacity when it hit last month.
``Rita is more
