(Reuters) -Energy facilities along the U.S. Gulf Coast reduced operations and evacuated production sites as Hurricane Helene, initially a Category 4 storm, made landfall before weakening to a tropical storm.
Helene roared ashore in Florida's Big Bend region as one of the most powerful storms to hit the United States, with officials fearing the hurricane would leave a trail of deaths and widespread destruction as it moved inland.
Helene is tied as the 14th most powerful hurricane to hit anywhere in the United States since records have been kept, and is the seventh most powerful to slam into Florida. Helene has weakened into a tropical storm as it moves farther inland over Georgia, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in its latest advisory.
Officials issued dire warnings, pleading with residents in coastal areas along the hurricane's path to evacuate ahead of catastrophic winds and a potentially deadly storm surge.
About 25% of crude oil production and 20% of natural gas output in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico was shut in as a result of the hurricane, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said on Thursday.
Offshore production in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico accounts for approximately 1.8 million barrels per day or about 15% of the nation's total crude output. Disruptions have the potential to affect U.S. oil supplies, leading to upward pressure on prices for domestic oil and offshore crude grades.
OPERATOR FACILITY DATE DETAILS
KinderMorgan Sept. 25 All Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) bulk terminals
in the Tampa area have prepared
for the storm and have been shut
down.
Shell (LON:SHEL) Stones and Appomattox Sept. 22 Evacuating
facilities non-essential personnel from its
assets in the Mars Corridor, have
paused some of their drilling
operations, and shut production at
its Stones and Appomattox
facilities in the Gulf of Mexico.
Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Blind Faith, Petronius, Sept. 23 Evacuated all personnel from Blind
Anchor, Big Foot, Jack/St. Faith and Petronius platforms and
Malo, and Tahiti platform the facilities have been shut-in.
Non-essential personnel were also
being transported from Anchor, Big
Foot, Jack/St. Malo, and Tahiti
platforms.
Shut-in production and
Sept. 25 Sept. 27 evacuated all associated personnel
at the platforms, which includes
the Anchor, Big Foot, Blind Faith,
Jack/St. Malo, Petronius and
Tahiti facilities.Begun to
redeploy personnel and restore
production at the company-operated
platforms after storm Helene.
Equinor Titan oil production platform Sept. 23 Evacuated some staff
from its Titan oil production
platform in the U.S. Gulf of
Mexico.
BP (NYSE:BP) Argos, Atlantis, Mad Dog, Na Sept. 23 Removed non-essential
Kika and Thunder Horse personnel from Argos, Atlantis,
platform Mad Dog, Na Kika and Thunder Horse
platforms. Shut in production at
Na Kika and Thunder Horse
platforms, and curtailed
production from Argos and Atlantis
platforms.
Sept. 25 Working toward safely ramping up
production across Gulf of Mexico
portfolio.