(Adds details)
Sept 7 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell Plc on Tuesday
said it is beginning the process of redeploying personnel to its
Auger platform in the Gulf of Mexico, while also assessing the
full damage at its West Delta-143 (WD-143) offshore facility due
to storm Ida.
As of Tuesday, about 88% of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico's
offshore oil production remained shut after the storm, one of
the most destructive to strike the region, made landfall on Aug.
29.
The Appomattox, Mars, Olympus, Ursa, Auger, and
Enchilada/Salsa facilities remain shut, Shell said in a
statement, reiterating that about 80% of Shell-operated
production is offline.
"Our inspections on board confirm that there is no
significant structural damage to these Shell Deep Water assets
impacted by the storm. Our crews will focus on making any
necessary repairs in a safe, sustainable manner," Shell said.
Shell's Norco plant in Louisiana was still without power
while assessment and repairs continue, the company said.
Sources told Reuters on Sunday that Shell plans to begin
restarting the 230,611-barrel-per-day (bpd) Norco oil refinery
in about two weeks.
The company also said it has re-staffed Shell Pipeline's
Ship Shoal 28 asset.
"Platform startup will remain dependent on the availability
of downstream infrastructure including pipelines and delivery
locations," Shell said.
Meanwhile, redeployment to its Enchilada/Salsa assets
continued, the company said.
West Delta-143, operated by Shell Pipeline, serves as the
transfer station for all production from its assets in the Mars
corridor in the Mississippi Canyon area of the Gulf of Mexico to
onshore crude terminals.
Consultancy Energy Aspects last week estimated a production
loss of 250,000 to 300,000 barrels per day of Shell's Mars
medium sour crude, possibly for weeks.
This would put 12-15 million barrels of Mars that was to be
exported in September-October at risk, prompting a scramble for
alternatives from Chinese and Korean buyers, Energy Aspects
added.
(Reporting by Arpan Varghese in Bengaluru, Gary McWilliams in
Houston; Editing by Nick Zieminski and Alistair Bell)
