HOUSTON, Sept 24 (Askume) – Tropical Storm Helene is expected to move eastward across the Caribbean Sea and into the Gulf of Mexico, raising the risk of strong winds and heavy rains in Cuba and Florida, but the hurricane’s impact will be minimal, forecasters said on Tuesday. Threat to oil production.
The storm is moving across the Caribbean Sea and is expected to enter the Gulf of Mexico and become a hurricane on Wednesday, with winds reaching 115 mph (184 kph) on Thursday, the National Hurricane Center said.
Its current path crosses Florida’s west coast and will hit the state’s panhandle later this week. Meteorologists say this path minimizes the risk in the oil-producing central Gulf of Mexico. The region accounts for 15% of the United States’ oil production and 2% of the United States’ natural gas production.
Offshore producers have shut down 16% of oil production and 11% of natural gas output in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The figures represent about 284,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil and 208 million cubic feet of natural gas. Four platforms have been evacuated and two drilling rigs have been moved out of the storm’s path, maritime regulators said on Tuesday.
The U.S. Coast Guard on Tuesday began restricting ship traffic along parts of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway and at the ports of Mobile and Panama City, Ala., and Pensacola and St. Joe, Florida, according to a shipping notice.
The ports of Gulfport, Pascagoula and Tombigbee remained open to ships on Tuesday, according to the Coast Guard.
DTN Meteorologist Kevin Mahoney said, “For the central Gulf, the risk profile is low to moderate because the system is on an eastern track.” But he added, “This is a very rapid system development with potentially huge wind fields.”
Shell (SHEL.L), the first Gulf of Mexico producer to shut down output this week, said it was restarting production from a platform about 200 miles (320 kilometers) southwest of New Orleans.
“As the forecast changes, we are restarting production at Stones,” the oil major said. Production cuts continue at Appomattox, another platform in the East Gulf.
Other oil producers have moved their crews off the coast and reduced operations as forecasters at the National Hurricane Center expect a second major hurricane in two weeks to hit the US Gulf of Mexico.
In addition to Shell, producers BP (BPL) , Chevron (CVXN) and Statoil (EQNROL) also recalled some offshore workers, and several companies halted oil and gas production ahead of the storm .
