Graph of shut-in crude oil and natural gas production, as explained in the article text Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Short-Term Energy Outlook, June edition The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is predicting a relatively mild hurricane season , but even a quiet season like last year can lead to disruptions to offshore crude oil and natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico. EIA recently analyzed the potential for Gulf shut-in production during the upcoming months, given NOAA’s outlook for hurricane activity. EIA’s mean estimate of offshore production outages during the current hurricane season totals 12 million barrels (bbls) of crude oil and 30 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of natural gas, more than three and four times higher than last year, respectively. These estimates are highly uncertain as it is difficult to predict the location and intensity of individual storms. If the actual storm activity in the […]