kenimpzoom
Rear Admiral
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2002
- Messages
- 4,807
The Shell Mars platform put out about 150,000 bbls/day and it is pretty much wrecked. The derrick fell over into the sea.<br /><br /><br />*************************************<br /><br /> http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=24921 <br /><br />Visual inspections so far indicate that most oil and gas companies in the Gulf of Mexico appear to have suffered less damage than expected from Hurricane Katrina, according to reports from the region. <br /><br />Some facilities have been seriously impacted, with Royal Dutch Shell's (RDSB.LN) Mars and WD-143 platforms being damaged. More problems elsewhere may well become apparent as companies board their offshore facilities and begin to carry out more thorough assessments. <br /><br />However, there were positive signs that some companies are taking steps towards restarting production, although regional disruption is still widespread, and significant questions over the status of Gulf Coast refineries remain. <br /><br />Shut-ins across the Gulf Coast before Katrina hit mean that regional production has been reduced to a fraction of its usual level. According to a report Wednesday by the U.S. Minerals Management Service, the amount of crude oil production sealed off in the U.S. Gulf stands at 92% of production, or 1.4 million barrels a day. Offline natural gas production is 84%, or 8.4 billion cubic feet a day. <br /><br />Some serious damage to facilities has become evident. Shell's Mars platform, which is designed to produce 220,000 barrels a day of crude and 220 million cubic feet of natural gas a day, has been significantly damaged, according to the company, while its WD-143 platform, which serves as an important hub for pipelines form the Mars deepwater field, has also been affected. <br /><br />Other offshore damage reported by the U.S. Coast Guard include five missing oil rigs from the West Delta Platform, one submersible rig grounded at South Pass, two mobile offshore drilling units adrift, and two semisubmersible rigs listing. <br /><br />Other impacts heard include Newfield Exploration Co. (NFX) losing its 1,500 barrels-of-oil-a-day Main Pass 138 A oil production platform, which may have sheared off at the waterline and sunk. Apache Oil Corp. also said Thursday that it had lost eight of its production platforms, with aggregate gross production of 7,158 barrels of oil and 12.1 million cubic feet of gas per day, while Marathon Oil (MRO) said that its South Pass platforms had sustained some serious damage. <br /><br />However, at this point the majority of companies operating offshore appear to have escaped the worst of Katrina's wrath. Amongst others, ExxonMobil (XOM), Total (TOT), Murphy Oil (MUR), Devon Energy (DVN), Dominion Resources (D), Kerr McGee Corp. (KMG) and Anadarko (APC) all said that initial inspections appeared to indicate that their offshore facilities were intact. <br /><br />Companies are now moving staff on board platforms in order to carry out more rigorous damage assessments. As yet, there's been little indication of what impact Hurricane Katrina might have had on subsea infrastructure, including pipelines. Pipeline company Enbridge Inc. (ENB) said it had sustained damage to its 800 million cubic feet per day Mississippi Canyon Corridor pipeline system, but that its other pipelines in the region were intact. <br /><br />The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, a key facility that supplies imported crude to refineries on the Gulf Coast and up into the Midwest, also found no catastrophic damage and is in the process of starting an oil delivery to ExxonMobil's (XOM) refinery in Baton Rouge, La., a spokesman said, while Royal Dutch Shell resumed operations of its 1.2 million barrels a day Capline Pipeline Wednesday evening. Colonial Pipeline Co. (CPL.XX) restarted main lines 1 and 2 Wednesday night. <br /><br />Some Encouraging Signs <br /><br />There were signs Thursday that some refineries are beginning to move towards restarting production. Eight refineries, representing 12% of total U.S. capacity, were shut down before the storm hit, while others have cut back runs due to crude oil supply snags. <br /><br />Valero Energy (VLO) estimated Wednesday that it will take about two weeks for its 260,000 barrels a day St. Charles facility to recommence production, while Marathon Oil found no major structural damage to its 245,000 barrels a day Garyville, La., refinery and could begin running in the next three to five days, the company said Thursday. However, there's still no firm indications on the status of the majority of refineries in the region, with several plants being located in areas affected by severe flooding. <br /><br />Power supplier Entergy (ETR) said Thursday that most refineries' electricity supplies would be restored in 7-10 days, although the Murphy and Chalmette refineries will face longer cuts, it said. <br /><br />Just how severe the supply disruptions will be from Hurricane Katrina now appears to be the main question. ExxonMobil warned late Tuesday that fuel supply disruptions in the Gulf Coast states may be unavoidable, given the extent of the disruption wreaked, while the Indiana-based Traders Corp., the biggest independent wholesale fuel distributor in the U.S., said Wednesday that it had been cut off from receiving gasoline supplies from BP PLC (BP) because of disruptions arising from Katrina. <br /><br />North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley also said that his state, and the Southeast U.S. at large, are facing a significant threat to gasoline supplies. He urged citizens to conserve gasoline and to wait for more information before making Labor Day travel plans. <br /><br />However, Williams Cos.' (WMB) Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Thursday said it's seeing a return of production from its offshore laterals in the Gulf of Mexico and anticipates the remainder of its natural gas supply will return to normal over the next few days. <br /><br />In response to the supply concerns, the U.S. Department of Energy is considering requests from refiners for a loan of crude from the country's Strategic Petroleum Reserve. No decisions on potential allocations had been made by Thursday morning. <br /><br />The Energy Protection Agency also announced that it would relax anti-pollution standards on gasoline in order to increase the amount of fuel available, while the New York Mercantile Exchange said that it will allow sellers of its September unleaded gasoline futures contract to deliver winter-grade gasoline during the period of Sept. 1-15, which could theoretically make it easier for companies to meet delivery requirements under the September contract. <br /><br />Gasoline prices leapt again Thursday, with front-month October gasoline futures at the New York Mercantile Exchange jumping 20 cents to $2.45 a gallon. European traders were heard scrambling to line up ships to send gasoline to the U.S., given the high prices. <br /><br />Natural gas supplies from the Gulf Coast are also prompting concern. Florida's power-grid monitor repeated a "generating capacity alert" Thursday, asking customers to conserve electricity as supplies looked to be affected by Hurricane Katrina.