US Gulf production, power slowly returning post-Ida

US offshore oil and natural gas production continues to return to service while the pace of power restoration in Louisiana is also rising daily, eight days after Hurricane Ida hit the region.

The percentage of offshore oil production off line dipped slightly from yesterday to 84pc, or 1.5mn b/d, as of 12:30pm ET according to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), while 80pc of offshore natural gas, or 1.8 Bcf/d, remains shut. The number of offshore platforms that remain unmanned fell by five from yesterday to 99 as companies return workers to the region.

Onshore local utility Entergy said today it has restored power to 457,000 customers, more than half of those that fell dark from the storm, with nearly 70pc of New Orleans customers back online. Full restoration in New Orleans East and Orleans parish is expected by 8 September, but areas of southeast Louisiana hardest hit by the storm may need to wait until the end of the month, including Assumption, Lafourche, Plaquemines and St Charles parishes.

Five refineries remain shut-in today from a combination of storm damage and a lack of power, including Phillips 66's 250,000 b/d Alliance refinery, Shell's 250,000 b/d Norco refinery, Valero's 215,000 b/d St Charles and 135,000 b/d Meraux refineries, and PBF's 190,000 b/d Chalmette refinery.

Belle Chasse, where Alliance is located, is expected to have power restored by 10 September, according to Entergy.

All sections of the Mississippi river were reopened to traffic over the weekend when Entergy cleared power lines that fell into the river upstream from New Orleans. The Coast Guard continues to urge extreme caution for ships from mile marker 56-58 because of a large field of partially sunken barges.

Shell said that 80pc of its offshore Gulf production remains offline as crews assess damage to the West Delta-143 facility, which handles crude from a number of deepwater platforms, including Mars, Olympus and Ursa. The platform, located in 370ft (110m) of water, serves as a transfer station for production to onshore crude terminals.

While the major offshore production platforms do not appear to be damaged, problems at smaller shallow water platform like West Delta-143 can have lingering effects. Last year a similar structure, the Garden Banks 72 platform, was damaged by Hurricane Laura in August. The platform, a key station on Genesis' US Gulf Cameron Highway Oil Pipeline System (CHOPS), had to be bypassed, curtailing CHOPS for five months.

The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP), which suspended deliveries ahead of Hurricane Ida, is still conducting repairs in the storm's aftermath. LOOP is about 20 miles (32km) off the coast from Grand Isle, Louisiana.

A system of thunderstorms that entered the southwest corner of the Gulf today after passing over the Yucatan Peninsula is expected to move northeast through the production-heavy central Gulf, but does not yet appear to be developing into a major storm, according to the National Hurricane Center. The current course has it heading for the Florida panhandle.

By Tom Fowler

US Gulf of Mexico offshore production	Status 12:30pm ET 6 Sept
Total	Change from 5 Sept	% of GOM
Oil shut-in b/d	1,526,409	-80,931	83.8
Natural gas shut-in mn cf/d	1,801	-44	80.8
Platforms Evacuated	99	-5	17.7
Rigs Evacuated	5	0	45.5
- BSEE

US Gulf coast refinery status, post-Hurricane Ida
Name	Capacity b/d	Status as of PM, 6 Sept
Marathon Garyville	565,000	Restarting
ExxonMobil Baton Rouge	500,000	Restarting, receiving SPR crude
Phillips 66 Alliance	250,000	Shut, unspecified damage
Shell Norco	250,000	Shut, unspecified damage
Valero St Charles	215,000	Shut
PBF Chalmette	190,000	Shut, limited power restored
Valero Meraux	135,000	Shut
Delek Krotz Springs	80,000	Unknown
Placid Port Allen	75,000	Normal, receiving SPR crude
Calcasieu Refining	136,000	Normal
- Companies