A significant portion of U.S. oil production capacity in the Gulf of Mexico remains offline following Hurricane Rafael’s weakening into a tropical storm. According to the U.S. National Hurricane Center, the storm is expected to move further south and southwest this week.
As of Sunday, over 480,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil production capacity and 310 million cubic feet of natural gas were offline, as reported by the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE). This accounts for 27.59% of the Gulf’s total crude oil production capacity and 16.67% of its natural gas production capacity.
The BSEE stated that once the storm passes, facilities in the affected areas will be inspected, and production from undamaged platforms will resume immediately once safety checks are completed.
Chevron has already begun restoring its operations, with the company returning personnel to its Gulf platforms and resuming production at six of its production facilities. “We will continue to closely monitor the system,” Chevron spokespersons confirmed.
Rafael, which formed earlier this month, briefly intensified into a hurricane, raising concerns about potential disruptions to Gulf oil and gas output. Early computer models predicted that up to 4 million barrels of daily oil production could be affected if the storm maintained its hurricane status.
This season, the U.S. energy sector has already faced substantial disruption from Hurricane Francine, which resulted in the shutdown of about 42% of oil production and 52% of natural gas output in the Gulf. According to energy analytics, Rafael could become the second most disruptive storm of the year if its strength remains consistent with earlier forecasts.
Rafael was the 17th named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season and the tenth since September 24. The Energy Information Administration had earlier predicted up to 25 named storms, forecasting significant damage to the American oil and gas industry. However, those predictions have not materialized as expected.
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