Gulf of Mexico oil, gas operations affected by storm

(Reuters) - Some U.S. oil and gas producers in the Gulf of Mexico shut in production and were evacuating energy infrastructure on Saturday as Tropical Storm Isaac headed for Cuba on a path toward the eastern part of the Gulf.

The U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said on Saturday that 8.63 percent of the Gulf's oil output and 1.62 percent of natural gas production per day was shut down.

The Gulf of Mexico accounts for about 23 percent of U.S. oil production and 7 percent of natural gas output, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. About 30 percent of U.S. natural gas processing plant capacity and 44 percent of the country's refining capacity also line the Gulf Coast, the EIA said.

On its current path, multiple forecasters said the storm would hit Cuba and the southern tip of Florida before making landfall next week anywhere from the Florida Panhandle to New Orleans.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center's forecast put the storm on a path toward the Florida Panhandle late Tuesday and early Wednesday.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecasted a "near normal" 2012 Atlantic hurricane season with nine to 15 tropical storms. Four to eight are projected to strengthen into hurricanes, with one to three of them major.

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ESTIMATED CAPACITY OFFLINE

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Oil output shut: 119,138 barrels per day

Natural gas output shut: 73 million cubic feet per day

(Source: U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement)

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OFFSHORE PRODUCTION IMPACT

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OIL/GAS Company Asset Capacity oil/gas Date Shut Restarted

BP Thunder Horse 250,000 bpd/200 mmcf/d Aug 24 N/A BP Na Kika 110,000 bpd/500 mmcf/d Aug 25 N/A BP Horn Mountain 65,000 bpd/ 68 mmcf/d Aug 25 N/A BP Marlin 60,000 bpd/250 mmcf/d Aug 25 N/A

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REFINERIES NEAREST STORM

Company Location Capacity Status

(1,000 bpd) Chevron Pascagoula MS 330 Monitoring

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PREPARATION, EVACUATIONS

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* BP Plc -- Shut in production, fully evacuating Thunder Horse, partially evacuating Na Kika, Horn Mountain and Marlin.

* BP -- Shut in production at Na Kika, Horn Mountain and Marlin.

* Exxon Mobil Corp. said it was preparing to withdraw non-essential workers from operations in Isaac's path.

* Shell -- Evacuating some workers from east-central Gulf operations, no production impact.

* Apache Corp -- Evacuating some workers from shallow-water operations in east-central Gulf.

* Murphy Oil Corp -- Evacuating some workers, drilling operations shut, no production impact.

* Williams Cos -- Securing Chevron Corp-operated Blind Faith and ENI-operated Devil's Tower platforms, expects both to be evacuated and shut Sunday or Monday.

* Chevron Corp -- Evacuating some workers from unspecified offshore facilities, no production impact.

* Anadarko Petroleum Corp -- Monitoring, prepared to evacuate workers and shut in production if storm tracks toward its operations.

* BHP Billiton -- Monitoring storm, no production impact or evacuations.

* Marathon Oil Corp -- Monitoring storm, no production impact or evacuations.

* ConocoPhillips -- Monitoring storm, no production impact or evacuations.

* Louisiana Offshore Oil Port -- Operations normal.

* Kinder Morgan's Southern Natural Gas Co -- Monitoring storm, no impact.

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FORCE MAJEURE

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* Destin Pipeline Co LLC, majority owner BP, declared force majeure due to the storm.

(Reporting By Erwin Seba, Kristen Hays, Eileen Houlihan and Janet McGurty; Editing by Vicki Allen)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gulf-mexico-oil-gas-operations-affected-storm-003525240.html

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