Hurricane forces oilfield evacuations in GoM

Tropical Storm Erin and Hurricane Dean have forced the oil and gas operators in the Gulf of Mexico to evacuate platforms and drill rigs.

According to a survey conducted by the U.S. Minerals Management Service (MMS), as many as 13 platforms and five drill rigs have been evacuated in the GoM, which accounts for nearly a third of US oil production and was devastated by hurricanes two years ago.

The National Weather Center, which has labeled the storm as a “major hurricane”, expected that the Hurricane Dean may enter the Gulf of Mexico early next week.

According to the National Hurricane Center, the Dean strengthened to a category 3 hurricane with 125 mile-per-hour winds is heading west at the speed of 21 mph. Experts predict that after hitting Jamaica, the storm now may move on to the tip of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico and continue through the Gulf of Mexico.

While Erin forced the shut-in of some oil and gas wells, the threat of Dean forced the evacuation of 1.6 percent of the 834 platforms and five percent of the 100 rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, the MMS reported.

Just 2,563 barrels per day of the Gulf’s 1.3 million bpd of oil production has been shut in. Some 10.5 million cubic feet per day of gas of the Gulf’s 7.7 bcm/d is hemmed in. During Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the shut-in valves functioned 100 percent of the time, the MMS reported.

Due to fears that Hurricane Dean could cause serious damage in the Gulf of Maxico, oil prices had already gained ground last week.