(Updates with Cristobal now a tropical storm, adds Murphy Oil,
other company evacuations, background.)
HOUSTON, June 5 (Reuters) - Norwegian state-oil company
Equinor ASA said on Friday it was shutting in
production on its Titan platform in the Gulf of Mexico while
other producers evacuated workers ahead of Tropical Storm
Cristobal.
Cristobal had weakened to a tropical depression while over
land in Mexico but returned to tropical storm strength as it
approached re-entry into the Gulf around midday on Friday.
Cristobal is forecast to strike the central Louisiana coast
on Sunday evening after passing through the heart of U.S.
offshore oil production areas over the weekend, according the
U.S. National Hurricane Center.
Equinor will evacuate remaining workers later on Friday, a
spokesman said.
U.S. producer Murphy Oil said it was evacuating all
workers from the Gulf of Mexico, but declined to say if
production was affected.
Royal Dutch Shell Plc said on Friday there has been
no impact to offshore oil production from Cristobal, but it
expects a minimal impact to drilling.
Shell is evacuating non-essential workers in the Gulf as
Cristobal begins moving north to reach the Louisiana coast.
Occidental Petroleum Corp also has evacuated
non-essential workers from some of its central Gulf of Mexico
facilities.
BP began shutting in production on Wednesday as it
was pulling workers from the Gulf.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration expects the Gulf
of Mexico to account for 15% of total U.S. crude oil production
in 2020.
(Reporting by Erwin Seba and Jennifer Hiller in Houston
Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Alistair Bell and Marguerita Choy)
BP (BP.)
