US oil companies are working to evacuate their staff from oil production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico due to a second major hurricane forecast in two weeks, one that could potentially pass through offshore oil-producing fields.
The US National Hurricane Centre has announced that a potential Tropical Cyclone System Nine near the western tip of Cuba will likely become a hurricane by Wednesday, intensifying as it crosses the eastern Gulf of Mexico.
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The centre said the storm could become a major hurricane by Thursday as it approaches the north-eastern Gulf Coast, posing the risk of a life-threatening storm surge and damaging hurricane-force winds, especially to the northern and north-east Gulf Coast.
The weather system, currently forming to the west of Cuba, is expected to become a Category 3 or even 4 hurricane by Thursday.
However, the storm’s potential impact on oil production is uncertain, leading to operators to take preventive measures for the safety of their personnel and installations.
Reports from several US media sources indicate that a significant number of platforms have been evacuated, although production has not been notably disrupted. However, depending on the storm’s intensity, the situation could change rapidly.
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By GlobalDataChevron, Shell and Equinor have all begun evacuating staff from offshore facilities. Chevron is evacuating nonessential personnel from all platforms including Anchor, Big Foot, Blind Faith, Jack/St. Malo, Petronius and Tahiti. Equinor is evacuating non-essential staff from its Titan platform.
Shell said in a statement on Sunday that as a precautionary measure it has “shut production at its Stones asset and has curtailed production at Appomattox”.
“We continue to evacuate non-essential personnel from our assets in the Mars Corridor, and we are in the process of safely pausing some of our drilling operations,” the company added.
According to the British energy major, no other impacts exist on production across the Gulf of Mexico.
US oil companies have made significant investments in infrastructure that can withstand storms, but dealing with frequent extreme weather in the area continues to be an obstacle. In addition to evacuating staff, companies must guarantee that offshore facilities can endure strong winds, intense waves and possible flooding.
