The Gulf just hit the off switch. As of 11:00 a.m. CDT Friday, the Marine Minerals Administration estimated that about 71.51% of current daily Gulf of America oil production — 1,458,814 barrels per day — had been shut in ahead of Hurricane Isaias, along with about 58.84% of natural-gas output (1,259.2 million cubic feet per day), per the agency’s update posted on BSEE.gov.
Crews are clearing out. Personnel had been evacuated from 129 of 371 manned production platforms (34.77%) and from 8 of 11 non-dynamically positioned rigs (72.73%). Two of 17 dynamically positioned rigs had moved off location out of the storm’s path, the MMA said. Shut-in is the safety drill: close subsea valves so oil and gas stay in the rock instead of the water.
EnergyNow relayed the same Friday figures via Reuters. On Thursday the agency had still been closer to ~63% oil shut-in; operators keep ratcheting up as the track firms. The Wall Street Journal reported BP had already curbed production and pulled everyone off its Na Kika and Thunder Horse platforms, with landfall expected on the northern Gulf Coast late Friday or early Saturday.
After the storm, facilities get inspected before undamaged wells come back. Damaged ones take longer. The MMA said it will keep updating evacuation and shut-in stats around 1 p.m. CDT as needed — and Friday’s snapshot already reflects reports from a dozen companies.
Translation: a huge chunk of U.S. offshore crude just sat down for the hurricane. Pump prices and oil traders will notice before the beaches do.
Sources: BSEE / Marine Minerals Administration · EnergyNow (Reuters) · Wall Street Journal
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