USGC offshore producers brace for Tropical Storm Cindy – Platts

As the US Gulf Coast oil and gas industry prepares for the arrival of Tropical Storm Cindy late Wednesday, about 17.24% of current Gulf of Mexico oil production has been shut, according to the US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement's Hurricane Response Team. That amounts to about 301,618 b/d of lost production.

For natural gas, about 0.32% of production has been shut, representing lost volume of 10.089 MMcf/d, BSEE said.

The shut-ins can usually be accomplished remotely, with personnel able to close subsurface safety valves from off-site. Once the storm has subsided, inspections will take place and undamaged facilities will be brought back online, the BSEE said.

The loss of offshore domestic crude production had little effect on the assessed value of US Gulf Coast crude differentials Wednesday.

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Only Southern Green Canyon, a medium sour produced off the coast of Texas, showed any major movement, rising 35 cents/b. The grade received price support from its ability to be delivered into Texas -- relatively out of the path of the storm -- versus Louisiana, where other Gulf of Mexico grades are delivered. Should Louisiana refineries come offline due to damage from the storm, Texas refineries could pick up the slack in the market.

In contrast, all 17 dynamically positioned rigs in the US Gulf of Mexico have remained on location, with personnel remaining on board. However, the BSEE noted these rigs can move relatively quickly should the need arise.

Anadarko, which operates the Lucius and Heidelberg spar facilities, has evacuated nonessential personnel and said facilities remain operational.

"We are continuing to monitor the weather system as it moves through the Gulf and are prepared to shut in our operated facilities if necessary to ensure the safety of our personnel and to protect the environment," the company said in a statement.

Shell, which operates the Mars B/Olympus, Cardamom and Stones developments, said personnel will remain offshore. The company has, however, suspended all offshore flights from heliports located in central Louisiana and some well operations also have been suspended.

"Production is currently unaffected," Shell spokesman Curtis Smith said in a statement. He noted that all of the company's deepwater production hubs are designed to withstand hurricane-force conditions.

Operator BP, which produces from the Atlantis, Mad Dog, Na Kika and Thunder Horse platforms, evacuated nonessential personnel earlier in the week and has also taken steps to secure its offshore production facilities.

"At this time, there have been no impacts to production," BP spokesperson Jason Ryan said in a statement. "BP's severe weather assessment team is in constant communication with our offshore teams."

BHP Billiton, which operates the offshore Shenzi and Neptune fields, said it does not expect regional storm conditions to warrant an evacuation of personnel based the company's operational response protocol for weather events.

"As far as the Invictus deepwater drillship, nonessential operations have been suspended, and nonessential personnel demobilized as a precautionary measure," the company said in a statement.

Hess, which operates the Stampede and Tubular Bells developments, is monitoring the storm closely with employees remaining in place for the moment.

"We stand ready to activate our response plans for severe weather conditions as needed," Hess spokeswoman Hillary Harmon said. "There has been no impact on production at this point."

Operations at Chevron's Jack/St. Malo development as well as the operator's other Gulf of Mexico production interests has not been affected by the approaching weather system.

"We will continue to closely monitor the system," Chevron spokeswoman Brenda Cosola said.

The most recent National Hurricane Center forecast calls for Cindy to approach the southwest Louisiana and southeast Texas coasts late Wednesday before moving inland into southeast Texas on Thursday.

--Mary Hogan, mary.hogan@spglobal.com

--Edited by Jason Lindquist, jason.lindquist@spglobal.com

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USGC offshore producers brace for Tropical Storm Cindy - Platts