Earlier today, tropical storm Isaac was downgraded from Category 1 hurricane status and the National Hurricane Center predicts that it will be downgraded to a tropical depression on Thursday. Over the past several days, it has moved across Louisiana, dumping large amounts of rain, producing storm surge and inland flooding. Many offshore rigs and onshore refining and petrochemical facilities have shut down.
As of today, 50 U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GOM) offshore drilling rigs in federal waters (nearly 66% of the GOM total) and 505 production platforms in federal waters (nearly 85% of the GOM total) in the storm’s path have been shut–in and evacuated, as compared to 49 rigs and 503 platforms shut-in yesterday, says IHS. Numerous onshore chemical and refining facilities also shut down operations, which is impacting refining and petrochemical production, says a special Hurricane Isaac report from IHS Chemical.
According to statistics reported today by the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), more than 1.3 million barrels of oil production are now shut-in in U.S. federal waters, and more than 3.2 billion cubic feet of gas-per-day in federal waters, has been shut-in due to Tropical Storm Isaac.