Oil cos racing back to Gulf; rough seas slow LOOP
HOUSTON, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Oil companies were flying workers back to offshore platforms in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday, but rough seas threatened to stretch return into Thursday.
"Seas are down from what they were at the storm's passage, said Jim Shugart, executive vice president at ERA Helicopters. "But they're still pretty rough out there because winds were high. Today's better. We should be through by end of the day."
Tropical Storm Ida shut slightly more than 43 percent of Gulf oil production and over a quarter of offshore natural gas output before coming ashore on Tuesday in Alabama, the U.S. Minerals Management Service said. [ID:nN10528777]
New production statistics are due from the MMS Wednesday afternoon.
The giant Independence Hub, which can process 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas daily had resumed partial production by Wednesday morning, said owner Enterprise Products Partners (EPD.N). [ID:nN11365893]
The giant Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP), which can offload 1 million barrels per in foreign crude, said it was ready to receive the giant crude carriers, but rough seas made it impossible for the ships to dock. [ID:nN11363920]
Crude oil prices added more than a dollar earlier in the week because of storm disruptions from Ida, but were soaring on Wednesday due to sliding dollar and China's demand for oil. [ID:nN11366279]
The Gulf's largest producers BP (BP.L)(BP.N), Exxon (XOM.N), Shell (RDSa.L), Chevron (CVX.N) have said they saw little damage to offshore platforms during initial inspections on Tuesday. (Writing by Erwin Seba; Reporting by Joshua Schneyer, Edward McAllister, Eileen Moustakis, Scott Disavino in New York; Janet McGurty in Toronto; Bruce Nichols, Kristen Hays and Erwin Seba in Houston; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
