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HOUSTON, Aug 26 (Reuters) - U.S. energy companies on
Thursday began airlifting workers from Gulf of Mexico oil
production platforms and moved vessels from the path of what
could become a devastating hurricane by the weekend.
A storm is brewing in the Caribbean Sea and is forecast to
grind through the main oil-producing region of the Gulf this
week. It could become a major hurricane ahead of landfall on the
central Gulf Coast, the National Hurricane Center said.
Hurricanes with winds of up to 111 miles (178 km) per hour are
classified as major and can bring devastating damage onshore.
BHP, Chevron, Equinor and Royal
Dutch Shell have begun removing workers from their
offshore facilities, spokespeople said. BHP, Shell and Chevron
are beginning with non-essential staff while Equinor said it is
preparing to move workers off its Titan platform.
BHP aims to fully evacuate its Shenzi production platform
and shut-in its production by Friday. Chevron said its
production remained at normal levels on Thursday.
Gulf of Mexico offshore wells account for 17% of U.S. crude
oil production and 5% of its dry natural gas production. Over
45% of total U.S. refining capacity lies along the Gulf Coast.
The preparations comes nearly four years to the day that the
Gulf Coast was hit by Hurricane Harvey, which dumped several
feet of rain in areas of Texas.
"This storm has the potential for rapid increases in
intensity before it comes ashore" because of extremely warm
waters off Louisiana, said Jim Foerster, chief meteorologist at
DTN, which provides weather advice to oil and transportation
companies.
"Water temperatures are 85 degrees to 88 degrees Fahrenheit
(29-31 degree Celsius), that's anomalously high, 3 to 5 degrees
higher than it normally would be," said DTN's Foerster. Its
projected path over warm waters will mean it drops heavy rains
that cause onshore flooding as it nears the Gulf Coast, he said.
(Reporting by Gary McWilliams, Liz Hampton and Erwin Seba
Editing by Marguerita Choy)
