Nov 9 (Reuters) - Energy companies shut oil and natural gas
operations in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico as Tropical Storm Ida
spun through the region.
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.
Crude oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose
$2 a barrel early Monday due to the storm threat. [O/N]
Natural gas futures traded 8 to 10 cents lower early Monday.
[ID:nN09254463]
The U.S. Minerals Management Service planned a report on
affected offshore oil and gas operations at 2 p.m. EST (2000
GMT)
Here's a graphic on Ida's projected storm track:
here
Following is a summary of actions taken by oil and natural
gas companies ahead of Ida, which was downgraded to a tropical
storm from a hurricane early Monday:
OIL:
- The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP) suspended offloading
tankers in advance of the storm. [ID:nN08202278]
- BP Plc (BP.L)(BP.N), one of the Gulf's largest producers,
said it had shut undisclosed amounts of production as a
precaution and was evacuating some personnel. [ID:nN08207106]
- Chevron Corp (CVX.N), another big producer, said it had shut
some production while evacuating personnel. Chevron's Blind
Faith platform shut as precaution, a partner said.
- Shell (RDSa.L), a third big producer, said Gulf production
will be cut starting Monday due to third-party shutdowns.
[ID:nN09263202]
- Murphy Oil Co (MUR.N) shut the Thunder Hawk and Medusa
platforms. [ID:nN09220042]
- Marathon Oil Corp (MRO.N) said it had shut in Ewing Bank
platform, which produces 11,700 barrels of oil per day and 10.5
million cubic feet of gas. [ID:nN08196994]
- Anadarko Petroleum Corp said it had shut in platforms
including Constitution, Marco Polo and Neptune.
[ID:nN09220608]
- Petrobras (PETR4.SA)(PBR.N) said it shut in its Cottonwood
platform off Texas [ID:nN09220086]
NATURAL GAS:
- The Independence Hub, a major supplier of U.S. natural gas,
was shut ahead of the storm, Enterprise Products (EPD.N) said.
Enterprise's Viosca Knoll and West Delta 68 platforms were also
shut. [ID:nN09256355]
- Transco gas pipeline expects 250 million cubic feet per day
loss of natural gas throughput, operator Williams (WMB.N) said.
[ID:nN09202456]
-El Paso Corp's (EP.N) Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co said 800
mmcfd of natural gas was cut from its system [ID:nN09218288]
-El Paso Corp's Southern natural gas unit sees 240 mmcfd of
natural gas shut in due Ida [ID:nN09261945]
-Transcanada (TRP.TO) says 30 mmcfd of natural gas shut in on
its ANR pipeline system
EVACUATIONS:
- Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) said it was evacuating non-essential
personnel [ID:nN08202278]
- Shell Oil Co (RDSa.L) said it evacuated 160 non-essential
personnel from platforms offshore.
-Anadarko Petroleum Corp (APC.N) said it was evacuating
personnel from shut platforms.
- TransCanada (TRP.TO) subsidiary ANR on Sunday pulled all
personnel off platforms in the Gulf as precaution.
REFINERIES:
- The Chalmette Refinery said it is monitoring the storm and
taking precautions, but is currently operating normally.
- Chevron's Pascagoula refinery said it is monitoring the storm
and securing the plant, but that it plans to "operate safely".
- Motiva's Norco refinery said it is operating normally but
monitoring the storm.
PORTS:
-U.S. Coast Guard said traffic on the lower Mississippi River
from the Gulf to New Orleans under restrictions.
[ID:nN09219613]
-Coast Guard said Gulf Intracoastal Waterway from Gulfport,
Mississippi, to Panama City, Florida, on alert.
(Reporting by Erwin Seba, Bruce Nichols, Janet McGurty,
Kristen Hays, Edward McAllister, and Joshua Schneyer; editing
by Jim Marshall and Lisa Shumaker)
