FIRMS HURRY TO REMOVE OFFSHORE WORKERS
08.29.08 - Leído 18 veces. Enviar esta notaEasha Anand
Oil companies prepare for storm
NEW ORLEANS, US; August 29, 2008.- With the approach of the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which shut down 95 percent of the Gulf of Mexico’s offshore output and 19 percent of the nation’s refineries, oil and gas operators are picking up the pace of evacuations from offshore facilities and battening down the hatches on shore.
Gustav appeared to be making a beeline Thursday for the central Gulf of Mexico, and several oil and gas companies were accelerating evacuations of nonessential personnel.
In an e-mail, Shell spokeswoman Robin Lebovitz reported that the company planned to evacuate 400 workers Thursday, while BP p.l.c. had evacuated all nonessential workers from the region. On Wednesday, Shell evacuated 300 employees and began to close off those structures — such as subsea wells, which are located below the ocean floor — that have a high turnaround time for shut-ins, though the Minerals Management Service reported no impact to the Gulf of Mexico’s overall oil or natural gas production.
MMS said that only one of the Gulf’s 121 rigs was evacuated as of 11 a.m. on Thursday. Of the Gulf’s 717 platforms, two — including one in the New Orleans district of the Gulf, which stretches east from Grand Isle — were evacuated.
Transocean Inc. had brought in 190 nonessential workers from five of its 11 rigs by Thursday evening.
Dynamic Industries Inc., which has a plant on the Harvey Canal and services the oil and gas industry, prevailed on oil companies to return 90 percent of their workers to shore, said offshore operations manager Craig Collins. Employees were brought in primarily from the central Gulf of Mexico, though some stationed at submerged Eugene Island or in the western delta area were also evacuated.
Meanwhile, Exxon Mobil Corp. had not begun evacuations as of 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, and Chevron Corp. had evacuated some workers, though spokeswoman Qiana Wilson declined to say how many.
Companies’ plans call for continuing evacuations as Gustav’s path through the Gulf is better known. Transocean will completely evacuate its three moored rigs and make plans to move and evacuate nonessential workers from its remaining eight dynamically positioned rigs, which can use thrusters to maneuver through the Gulf.
ExxonMobil, Chevron and Shell have all begun preparing on-shore facilities, such as refineries, in Gustav’s predicted path, and Shell planned to evacuate its remaining 600 workers from the Gulf today and Saturday.
The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, which receives about 1.2 million barrels of oil each day and is the nation’s largest oil import terminal, remained open, spokesman Dale Rollins said.
(New Orleans Times)
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