About 24% of crude production and 26% of natural gas output in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico were offline as tropical storm Francine moved towards Louisiana, the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said on Tuesday.
Francine was about 380 miles southwest of Morgan City, Louisiana, and steaming 9 miles per hour (14 kph) across the western portion of the Gulf, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. It expects an increase in forward speed by the end of the day.
The U.S. Gulf of Mexico accounts for about 15% of all domestic oil production and 2% of natural gas output, according to federal data.
“Personnel have been evacuated from a total of 130 production platforms, 35% of the 371 manned platforms in the Gulf of Mexico,” BSEE said in a release.
Staff also was evacuated from two non-dynamically positioned rigs, while three rigs were moved off location out of the storm’s path as a precaution, BSEE added.
(Reporting by Marianna Parraga)