HOUSTON, Oct 6 (Reuters) - About half of oil and gasproduction in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico was shut on Sunday, thegovernment said, but some work was returning to normal and thenumber of platforms offline was declining.
The U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said61.1 percent oil oil output was shut, compared with 61.9 percenton Saturday.
Some 47.9 percent of natural gas production was offline,compared with 48.2 percent on Saturday.
Energy firms had halted work as a precaution starting onThursday ahead of Tropical Storm Karen, which was downgraded toa depression late Saturday and no longer poses a threat.
The Gulf of Mexico accounts for about 19 percent of U.S. oilproduction and 6 percent of natural gas output. Energy companieshave said they halted facilities with capacity of about 1.06million barrels of oil a day, though many platforms normally donot run full bore. (Reporting By Erwin Seba)