More Than a Quarter of U.S. Gulf of Mexico Oil, 16% of Natural Gas Offline

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(Reuters) – More than a quarter of U.S. Gulf of Mexico oil and 16% of natural gas output remained offline in the aftermath of storm Rafael, the U.S. offshore energy regulator reported on Sunday.

There were 482,790 barrels of oil and 310 million cubic feet of natural gas production shut-in on Sunday, offshore regulator Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) reported.

Oil and gas workers remained evacuated from 37 of the region’s 371 manned production platforms, or about 10%, while two drilling vessels remained off their prior locations, BSEE said.

Chevron and Shell have begun returning workers to their offshore facilities, the two Gulf of Mexico producers said on Sunday. Shell also returned drill ships to prior locations after storm-related pauses, a spokesperson said.

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Production losses due to Rafael shut-ins to date have totaled 2.07 million barrels of oil and 1.12 billion cubic feet of natural gas, according to BSEE data.

U.S. Gulf of Mexico federal offshore oil production accounts for about 15% of total U.S. crude oil production and 2% of dry natural gas production.

The storm has been downgraded to a tropical storm after entering the Gulf on Wednesday as a major hurricane. It is expected to meander in the central Gulf of Mexico, then turn toward the south and southwest on Monday and Tuesday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.