Weather Watch: Tropical Depression Stalls Over GOM

- Weather Watch: Tropical Depression Stalls Over GOM

Friday, September 02, 2011
Rigzone Staff
by Karen Boman

Shell reported Friday that Tropical Depression #13, which has winds near 35 mph and is stalled over the Gulf of Mexico, is impairing its efforts to evacuate staff from its deepwater operations.

The company has evacuated 550 workers and is using all available resources to safely evacuate employees. The number of personnel evacuated Friday will depend on weather conditions, "and we will only transport personnel if safe to do so", the company said.

Shell has shut in the Auger, Enchilada, Brutus and the Europa subsea field. Shell's non-operated downstream infrastructure partners have proceeded in evacuating their facilities and their actions have resulted in some production shut-ins as well.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) reports that Tropical Depression No. 13 has maximum sustained winds near 35 mph with higher gusts. NHC forecasts the depression to strengthen during the next 48 hours, with the depression possibly becoming a tropical storm later Friday.

NHC reports winds of tropical storm force are being reported on oil rigs north and east of the storm's center at elevations of a few hundred feet. The center of the cyclone is expected to approach the coast of southern Louisiana during the weekend. A tropical storm warning is in effect from Pascagoula, Miss., to Sabine Pass, Texas.

The storm system's greatest impact will be on production, as producers have moved to shut in oil and gas supply, but the tropical disturbance will not likely cause major damage to oil and gas infrastructure, said Dan Leonard, senior meteorologist at Weather Services International (WSI). The storm is expected to bring 30-40 mph winds to the Gulf production region east of the mouth of the Mississippi River, even after it makes landfall.

The tropical disturbance in the Gulf is unusual as most systems that go into the Gulf of Mexico usually develop in the Atlantic Ocean or the Caribbean Sea, said Leonard. The tropical depression, which will strengthen over the next 24 to 36 hours, will stall along the immediate Louisiana coast Sunday and Monday before moving up through Louisiana and Alabama at mid-week next week. "The system is significant in that you'll have a long duration wind event in one area for so long."

Tropical Storm Katia, which had previously strengthened to a Category 1 hurricane, is not expected to impact the Gulf of Mexico.

Enterprise Products Partners has shut in its Poseidon and Cameron Highway pipelines due to the storm in the Gulf. The two pipelines have combined actual throughput of 250,000 b/d, with a net impact of 100,000 b/d on Enterprise.

The company also has evacuated workers from its nine operated platforms at High Island Block 85, South Marsh Island 205, Garden Banks Block 72, East Cameron Block 373, Mustang Island Block A-103, Viosca Knoll Block 817, West Delta Block 68, High Island A264 and West Cameron Block 167.

The Cameron Highway Pipeline serves multiple refineries in the Texas City and Port Arthur, Texas areas; Poseidon serves refiners in the Houma, La., area. Both pipelines also connect to other pipeline systems onshore.

The company is monitoring the storm to determine when it's safe to resume operations, said company spokesperson Rick Rainey.

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BOEMRE Reports Final Update on Tropical Storm Don

- BOEMRE Reports Final Update on Tropical Storm Don

Monday, August 01, 2011
BOEMRE

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement (BOEMRE) Hurricane Response Team is concluding its activities related to Tropical Storm Don.

This is the final update of evacuation and shut-in production statistics for Tropical Storm Don.

Based on data from offshore operator reports submitted as of 11:30 a.m. CDT today, none of the 617 manned production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico remain evacuated. Production platforms are the structures located offshore from which oil and natural gas are produced. Unlike drilling rigs, which typically move from location to location, production facilities remain in the same location throughout a project’s duration.

None of the 62 rigs currently operating in the Gulf remain evacuated. Rigs can include several types of self-contained offshore drilling facilities including jackup rigs, submersibles and semisubmersibles.

As part of the evacuation process, personnel activate the applicable shut-in procedure, which can frequently be accomplished from a remote location. This involves closing the sub-surface safety valves located below the surface of the ocean floor to prevent the release of oil or gas. During the recent hurricane seasons, the shut-in valves functioned 100 percent of the time, efficiently shutting in production from wells on the Outer Continental Shelf and protecting the marine and coastal environments. Shutting-in oil and gas production is a standard procedure conducted by industry for safety and environmental reasons.

From operator reports, it is estimated that approximately 2.3 percent of the current oil production in the Gulf of Mexico has been shut-in. It is also estimated that approximately 0.9 percent of the natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico has been shut-in. The remaining shut-in production is not associated with any reported damage.

The production percentages are calculated using information submitted by offshore operators in daily reports. Shut-in production information included in these reports is based on the amount of oil and gas the operator expected to produce that day. The shut-in production figures therefore are estimates, which BOEMRE compares to historical production reports to ensure the estimates follow a logical pattern.

After the tropical storm passes, facilities are inspected. Once all standard checks have been completed, production from undamaged facilities is brought back on line immediately. Facilities sustaining damage may take longer to bring back on line. BOEMRE will no longer report Tropical Storm Don statistics.

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Tropical Storm Don to Make Landfall Late Friday

- Tropical Storm Don to Make Landfall Late Friday

Friday, July 29, 2011
Rigzone Staff

Tropical Storm Don, the fourth tropical storm in the Atlantic this season, is expected to make landfall late Friday or early Saturday, according to the National Hurricane Center.

At 0900 GMT, the storm was located 290 miles southeast of Corpus Christi, Texas, headed west-northwest near 14 mph. Maximum sustained winds were near 50 mph.

According to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEMRE), approximately 6.8 percent of the current GOM oil production has been shut-in and 2.8 percent of the natural gas production.

According to BP, it is starting to send workers back to its oil and gas platforms in the GOM. There is no production impact at Mad Dog and Holstein as both facilities have been completing scheduled maintenance.

Along with majors Shell, Apache, Chevron, BP and BHP, Enbridge has also evacuated personnel from its West Cameron 509 platform.

Northern Natural Gas will shut-in production from its Matagorda Offshore Pipleline System in GOM.

Refineries such as Valero's 115,000-barrel-a-day-plant, ConocoPhillips' 247,000-barrel-a-day Sweeny refinery, Citgo's 165,000-barrel-a-day facility and Flint Hills Resources 300,000-barrel-a-day-plant are located in the storm's path, near Corpus Christi.

Tropical Storm Don isn't expected to become a hurricane.

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Gulf Weather System Upgraded to Tropical Storm Don

- Gulf Weather System Upgraded to Tropical Storm Don

Thursday, July 28, 2011
Rigzone Staff

The tropical disturbance that has been forming in the Gulf of Mexico has been upgraded to Tropical Storm Don. The National Hurricane Center reported that the storm is moving toward the west-northwest at approximately 10 mph and an increase in forward speed is expected through Friday. As of Thursday morning, the storm's location is approximately 495 miles east-southeast of Brownsville, Texas

Should the storm stay on its present track, its center would move through the southern and central Gulf of Mexico Thursday and approach the Texas coast on Friday. Maximum sustained winds remain near 40 mph and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 45 miles from the center.

Oil companies have begun evacuating non-essential personnel from offshore installations in the path of the storm. Shell, Apache, Chevron, BP and BHP have said that while evacuations have started, production has not been impacted.

BP has evacuated non-essential personnel from the Atlantis, Mad Dog, and Holstein production facilities located in the southern Green Canyon area. Shell has begun securing well operations and evacuating personnel from the Perdido Spar, Auger platform and the Noble Danny Adkins ultra-deepwater semisub. BHP Billiton has evacuated non-essential personnel from Shenzi which is located in Green Canyon 609 and Neptune which is located in the Atwater Valley area.

Anadarko has evacuated approximately 185 employees and contractors from their Nansen, Boomvang, Gunnison, Red Hawk and Constitution spars as well as the Marco Polo facility in the western Gulf of Mexico. As a precaution, Anadarko is also shutting in production at these facilities.

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Gulf Weather System Nearly Certain To Become A Tropical Cyclone

- Gulf Weather System Nearly Certain To Become A Tropical Cyclone

Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Dow Jones Newswires
HOUSTON
by Isabel Ordonez & Ryan Dezember

U.S. forecasters said a weather system rumbling into the southwestern Gulf of Mexico will almost certainly become a tropical cyclone by Friday afternoon.

The National Hurricane Center said satellite imagery indicates a tropical depression or tropical storm could be forming 90 miles north of Cancun, Mexico. The system, passing through the channel between the Yucatan peninsula and Cuba's western tip, is moving west-northwest at 15 miles per hour, forecasters said.

The Hurricane Center has dispatched a Hurricane Hunter airplane to the area to investigate conditions. The storm has a "near 100%" chance of becoming a tropical cyclone by midday Friday, forecasters said.

The Gulf accounted for about 30% of all U.S. oil production last year, with more than 606 million barrels. Gulf wells also account for about 7.2% of U.S. natural gas production.

Shell, one of the largest producers in the Gulf of Mexico, said it has evacuated some non-essential personnel from its southwest operations due to the threat of a possible storm.

The company said it evacuated about 70 people and that production isn't affected. Evacuation started Tuesday and continued Wednesday, the company said.

"These personnel are not essential to core producing," the company said.

Shell said it began securing operations on the Perdido platform, which it operates in partnership with Chevron and BP. About 200 miles south of Galveston, Texas, in about 8,000 feet of water, the Perdido platform is the world's deepest drilling and production platform. Its peak production is the equivalent of about 100,000 barrels of oil per day.

Shell also said it is securing operations on the Noble Danny Adkins, a deep-water drill ship it is leasing from Noble which is working in the vicinity of the Perdido platform. Noble spokesman John Breed said the company isn't evacuating workers from the rig but is "securing operations" aboard the ship.

Other major Gulf of Mexico producers BP, Chevron and ConocoPhillips said Wednesday they are monitoring the weather and developing plans should it threaten their operations.

Copyright (c) 2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

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