FACTBOX-Gulf of Mexico energy ops recovering from Ida

(Updates throughout)

Nov 11 (Reuters) - Restoration of most Gulf of Mexico oil
and natural gas operations was going smoothly as companies
reported little or no damage from storm Ida, which went ashore
Tuesday in Alabama. But some restarts were taking a bit longer
than expected as seas, though calmer, remained rough into
Wednesday.

The U.S. Minerals Management Service planned an update on
progress restoring oil and gas flows and returning workers
offshore to platforms and rigs at 1 p.m. CST (1900 GMT)
Wednesday.

On Tuesday, MMS said energy companies had shut 43.09
percent of oil production and 27.96 percent of natural gas
output in the Gulf as the storm spun ashore.

The Gulf is the source of 25 percent of U.S. domestically
produced oil and 15 percent of natural gas. About 40 percent of
U.S. refining capacity is located on the Gulf Coast.

Except for brief spikes Monday as the storm moved through
the Gulf, energy markets shrugged off the event. Prices were
soaring Wednesday on a weaker dollar, analysts said. [O/N]
[NGA/]

HEADLINES:
- MMS said Tuesday companies shut 560,199 barrels per day of
Gulf oil output (43.09 percent) of a total 1.3 million bpd, up
from 384,642 bpd (29.6 percent) Monday.
- MMS also said 1.957 billion cubic feet per day (Bcfd) of
gas (27.96 percent) of the total 7 Bcfd were shut Tuesday, up
from 1.925 Bcfd (27.5 percent) Monday. [ID:nN09518842]
- Companies as of Tuesday also evacuated 158 of 694 manned
production platforms (22.8 percent), up from 126 (18.1 percent)
Monday, and 10 of 66 drilling rigs (15.2 percent), up from 8
(12.1 percent) Monday, MMS said.

The numbers were expected to be significantly lower after
Wednesday's scheduled 1 p.m. CST (1900 GMT) MMS update.

OIL:
- Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP) said it planned to
resume offloading tankers by Thursday after initially
predicting restart late Tuesday or early Wednesday.
[ID:nN11363920]
- Chevron Corp (CVX.N), another big producer, said it was
returning workers to offshore platforms and expected to
continue "safe mobilization efforts" this week at the shut
Tahiti, Blind Faith and Petronius platforms. [ID:nN10341464]
- Anadarko Petroleum Corp (APC.N) said it hoped to resume
production at Constitution, Marco Polo and Neptune platforms by
Thursday. [ID:nN11366127]
- Transocean Ltd (RIG.N) said a semisubmersible drilling rig
sustained minor damage but was returning to normal operations.

NATURAL GAS:
- The Independence Hub, a major supplier of U.S. natural gas,
resumed partial production, at 250 million cubic feet per day
Wednesday. said owner Enterprise Products Partners (EPD.N).
Enterprise's Viosca Knoll and West Delta 68 platforms were also
operating normally. [ID:nN11365893]
- El Paso Corp (EP.N) said it expected normal operations on
Tennessee and Southern gas lines by late Wednesday.
[ID:nN11367544]

PORTS:
- U.S. Coast Guard said New Orleans and the lower Mississippi
were open but kept Ports of Mobile and Pascagoula closed to
deep draft vessel traffic. Port of Pensacola was closed to all
traffic. The Port of Gulfport was open.
(Reporting by Erwin Seba, Bruce Nichols, Janet McGurty,
Kristen Hays, Edward McAllister, Eileen Moustakis, Scott
Disavino, Eileen O'Grady, Anna Driver and Joshua Schneyer;
Editing by David Gregorio and Lisa Shumaker)