(Adds platform checks, refiners kept running, dateline)
HOUSTON, June 8 (Reuters) - Energy companies on Monday began
preparations to resume oil and gas production in the U.S. Gulf
of Mexico, a day after Tropical Storm Cristobal blew through
with high winds and heavy rains.
Royal Dutch Shell PLC said it plans on Monday and
Tuesday to restart drilling and redeploy some workers who were
evacuated last week from offshore facilities as conditions
improve.
Energy companies inspect platforms after a storm and return
workers once it is safe to do so.
"There were no impacts to our production as a result of TS
Cristobal, and we expect to resume our drilling operations as
conditions continue to improve today and tomorrow," Shell said.
Cristobal, which has weakened to a tropical depression after
making landfall in Louisiana on Sunday, shut 34% of oil and 32%
of natural gas output in the Gulf of Mexico, said the Bureau of
Safety and Environmental Enforcement, the offshore regulator.
Exxon Mobil, Shell and PBF Energy kept their oil refineries
in Louisiana in operation as Cristobal passed through the
southeast part of the state on Sunday and Monday, people
familiar with operations said.
The 502,500 barrel-per-day Exxon Baton Rouge, PBF's 190,000
bpd Chalmette and Shell's 225,300 bpd Norco, Louisiana, refinery
were operating normally on Monday, the people said.
Shell, along with other companies, including Murphy Oil
, began evacuating personnel on June 4.
The storm was 15 miles (30 km) east of Monroe, Louisiana, at
10 a.m. on Monday and bringing up to 10 inches of rain to the
central and eastern Gulf Coast. The storm should move through
Arkansas and Missouri Monday night and Tuesday, U.S. National
Hurricane Center forecasters said.
(Reporting by Arpan Varghese in Bengaluru and Erwin Seba in
Houston; Editing by Dan Grebler)
