New Wave Media

Facing incoming Tropical Storm Cindy, offshore oil and gas operators in the Gulf of Mexico have begun evacuating platforms and rigs as the storm moves north-westward toward the U.S. Gulf Coast.

 

Data from offshore operator reports submitted to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) as of 11:30 CDT today indicate that personnel have been evacuated from a total of 40 production platforms, or 5.43 percent of the 737 manned platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. 

 

Personnel have been evacuated from one rig non-dynamically positioned (DP) rig, equivalent to 6.67 percent of the 15 rigs of this type currently operating in the Gulf.

 

None of the 17 DP rigs currently operating in the Gulf have moved off location.

 

As part of the evacuation process, personnel activate the applicable shut-in procedure, which involves closing the sub-surface safety valves located below the surface of the ocean floor to prevent the release of oil or gas.

 

From operator reports, BSEE estimates that approximately 17.24 percent of the current oil production and 0.32 percent of the natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico has been shut-in.