U.S. Gulf of Mexico crude oil output remained down 70%, or 1.29 million barrels per day, according to data released on Sunday by the Department of Interior, as companies continued to return crews to offshore facilities that were evacuated ahead of Hurricane Laura. A total of 139 platforms or drilling rigs in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico were unmanned at midday on Sunday, the department reported, down from the 310 that had been evacuated on Wednesday. ( tinyurl.com/y4yed9sb ) The Port of Houston, the nation’s largest energy export port, was operating normally on Sunday. The Ports of Texas City, Galveston, Freeport, and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway from West Port Arthur Bridge east to High Island Bridge, also resumed normal operations, the Coast Guard said. Closer to the storm’s landfall, the ports of Lake Charles and Cameron and the Calcasieu Waterway, all in Louisiana, remained without power […]