Energy companies with operations in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) reported little impact on production as a result of Tropical Storm Cindy.
Shell suspended some well operations and Anadarko Petroleum, ENI and Enbridge said they had evacuated non-essential personnel.
Entergy Corp., the biggest power company in the Gulf Coast area, said about 4,200 of its 2.9 million customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas were without power Thursday morning.
The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, the largest privately owned crude storage terminal in the U.S., suspended vessel offloadings but expected no interruptions to deliveries from its hub in Clovelly, Louisiana.
Offshore natural gas production in the GoM declined from about 3 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) earlier in the week to as low as 2.3 Bcf/d on June 21 before rising to a forecast 2.4 Bcf/d on June 22, according to Reuters data.
One billion cubic feet of gas is enough to supply about five million U.S. homes.
Energy analysts, however, noted the storm would likely have a bigger impact on gas demand than production.
“The tropical storm ... promises to bring rain and cooler temperatures, curbing demand in the region,” Daniel Myers, market analyst at Gelber & Associates in Houston said in a note on June 21.
The GoM region is home to about 17% of U.S. crude and 5% of dry natural gas output, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
The U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Environment (BSEE) said on June 21 that personnel were evacuated from 40 production platforms as of 11:30 a.m. CDT that day. The figure represented 5.43% of the GoM’s 737 manned platforms.
BSEE also said that one rig was evacuated in the GoM.
“From operator reports, it is estimated that approximately 17.24% of the current oil production in the Gulf of Mexico has been shut-in. It is also estimated that approximately 0.32% of the natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico has been shut-in,” BSEE said.
Tropical storm Cindy moved inland near the Louisiana-Texas border on Thursday morning, bringing heavy rainfall and life-threatening conditions over the northern Gulf Coast, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. The storm's first fatality was reported on June 21 when a 10-year-old boy was struck by a log that a large wave dislodged as he stood near the shore in Fort Morgan, Alabama, the Baldwin County coroner said.
Cindy was about 40 miles (65 km) northwest of Lake Charles, Louisiana, with maximum sustained winds of 40 miles per hour (65 km/h). It is expected to weaken into a tropical depression later Thursday morning, the Miami-based weather forecaster said.
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