HOUSTON, Sept 23 (Askume) – U.S. oil producers struggled on Monday to evacuate workers from production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico as a second major storm in two weeks threatened to devastate offshore production areas.
A potential tropical cyclone in the Caribbean is expected to intensify rapidly over the warm waters of the Gulf, and by Thursday it will become a tropical storm with winds of 115 mph (185 kph), the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
According to the National Hurricane Center, the storm, named Helene, could hit the U.S. as a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale, causing “life-threatening storm damage” to the northeast Gulf Coast and the Florida Panhandle.
Storm Track Characteristics: LSEG
Oil companies BP ( SHEL ) and Shell ( EQNROL ) , Statoil ( CVXN ) , Chevron BPL )
BP has halted oil and gas production on its Na Kika and Thunder Horse platforms and reduced output from two other platforms, Argos and Atlantis. Workers on these four platforms and a fifth platform, “Mad Dog”, are being laid off, it said.
Chevron (CVX.N) said it has begun laying off all workers and has shut down production at its Blind Faith and Petronius offshore platforms.
Non-essential workers are being evacuated at Anchor, Bigfoot, Jacques/Saint-Malo and Tahiti. Production on these platforms remains at normal levels, the company said.
Equinor (EQNR.OL) said it was laying off non-essential workers on its Titan platform. The company said production was not affected.
Occidental Petroleum Corp (OXY.N) said in an online post that it would implement safety procedures “as appropriate” at its offshore operations. Talos Energy (TALO.N) declined to comment on its hurricane preparations.
Shell (SHEL.L) said it has shut down production at its Stones platform, reduced output at its Appomattox plant and halted some drilling operations. Non-essential staff at its Mars, Olympus and Ursa offshore facilities are being evacuated. Shell said production is continuing at the three plants.
“As the system moves across the Gulf, it is expected to increase in size,” said NHC meteorologist Brad Reinhart.
