kenimpzoom
Rear Admiral
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2002
- Messages
- 4,807
NEW ORLEANS - About a third of the Gulf of Mexico's daily oil production that was knocked off the market by storm damage should be restored by Nov. 1, but it could take a year for pre-Hurricane Ivan levels to be restored, a federal agency said today. <br /><br />Currently, around 450,000 barrels of daily normal oil production are shut in throughout the Gulf, the Minerals Management Service said. Chris Oynes, regional director of the Minerals Management Service, said that by the end of the month, that figure should be reduced to 300,000 barrels. <br /><br />"That's still a pretty good chunk, but we're going to keep narrowing it," Oynes said. <br /><br />Normal daily production in the Gulf is about 1.7 million barrels per day. <br /><br />Oil prices have skyrocketed more than $10 a barrel in the past month primarily over production delays in the Gulf of Mexico, where Ivan hit in mid-September. On Monday, crude futures traded near $55 per barrel. <br /><br />Oynes said the MMS expects 96 percent of pre-storm production to be restored within six months. The rest could take up to a year to clear, he said. <br /><br />Oynes said that although seven production platforms were toppled or destroyed by Ivan, the most-serious problem now appears to be pipeline damage. Oynes said additional storms in the Gulf likely would delay repairs. <br /><br />At least two companies have discussed the possibility of hauling oil from production platforms to the mainland with tankers, but none have made any formal application to do so, Oynes said. <br /><br />Oynes said data collected by a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration indicates that some of the heaviest damage may have been caused by a "rogue wave" that reached 90 feet in height. Other damage was spawned by underwater mud avalanches, he said.
