U.S. manufacturers in the Gulf of Mexico are in the early stages of securing operations before two storms expected to move the region next week.
Shell has also begun evacuating non-essential workers from some of its overseas assets “when operating activities and situations allow it,” the company said.
“There is currently no effect on production, and paint jobs are underway for safe drilling operations,” Shell said.
BP and Shell are two of the largest and most active manufacturers in the U.S. Gulf.
The U.S. Gulf of Mexico produced 1.69 million b/d of oil this quarter, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s most recent Short-Term Energy Outlook report. These volumes are expected to reach 1.82 million b/d in the third quarter and 1.97 million b/d in the fourth quarter.
The Gulf produced about 2.3 Gpi3/d of herbal fuel in this quarter, according to the EIA.
Much of the production in the U.S. Gulf. It is done in front of Louisiana in the central Gulf, so Laura can simply do that production. But most of them are not in the immediate path of Depression 14, although any hurricane-force wind can widen in Louisiana and even Mississippi, according to the National Hurricane Center, a department of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
“We are largely following the stage and plan to evacuate non-essential workers tomorrow,” that is, on August 22, said Hasting Stewart, a corporate spokesman. “We will continue to evaluate the scenario to determine whether additional evacuation and a production shutdown will be required.”
Others said they were tracking the trail of the storm and would make other decisions as the scenario became clearer.
ExxonMobil “is largely following the storm,” corporate spokesman Todd Spitler said. “[Our] operations are normal.”
A spokesman for small U.S. Gulf producer W-T Offshore also said the company is tracking the storms.
At noon on 21 August, Depression 14 was off the coast of Honduras and is expected to spread over the northwestern Caribbean until August 22, the NHC said.
The formula is expected to move to the south-central Gulf of Mexico as a tropical typhoon from August 23 and as it moves northwest over the central Gulf, the NHC said.
Laura has yet to succeed in the Greater Antilles, but is expected to move near or above parts of the domain until August 24, the Center said.
By then, announcements of production closures in the Gulf of Mexico may simply “generalize,” Wells Fargo analyst Roger Read said in an August 21 investor note.
“Refining closures are before landfills, however, much of the U.S. Gulf Coast refining sector is within the broader ‘danger zone’,” Read said.
Read noted that Tropical Storm Laura’s so-called “cone of uncertainty” includes refining sets in Louisiana and Mississippi, he said.
However, “in a largely oversupply oil market, temporarily closed production will be a positive occasion for macroeconomics,” he said. “We see this as a negative occasion for directly affected manufacturers, as we do not anticipate any reaction to oil prices.”
Entergy said late on August 21 that its affiliates were “monitoring and planning” the potential effects of two tropical systems, and encouraged consumers to “do the same.”
The Entergy Louisiana and Entergy New Orleans teams are on alert.
Chris Rimel, NRG spokesman in Houston, said that “every power plant has a site-specific hurricane procedure; will begin this weekend.
NRG has a 44% stake in the South Texas nuclear power plant southwest of Houston, near Matagorda Bay.
“We start the raids in the factories and ensure anything that becomes a flying object with strong winds. We are looking for staff for the event, we now want to take a closer look at where we have placed sleeping arrangements for the workers because of COVID,” Rimel said.