More than 1 million b/d of crude remains shut-in in the US Gulf of Mexico Tuesday after Hurricane Nate passed through the region over the weekend, although a couple of companies have publicly said they have begun to restart production. Shut-in production of 1.024 million b/d represents nearly 59% of the US Gulf’s crude output, the US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said Tuesday. In addition, 1.485 Bcf/d of natural gas output is also still shut-in, which is 46% of the US Gulf’s gas output, BSEE said. Also, 66 platforms and one rig remain evacuated, which are 9% of the total platforms and 5% of the total rigs in the Gulf, respectively.
Earlier Tuesday, ExxonMobil said it had restored production at its Julia and Hadrian South deepwater platforms, and was working to restore its shallow-water Mobile Bay production. Late Monday, Murphy Oil said it was restoring the output of Front Runner and Medusa, two deepwater production facilities it operates.
Nate, a fast-moving storm, made landfall late Saturday as a Category 1 hurricane and raced east across Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama on Sunday. So far it appears to have caused little or no damage to oil infrastructure.