Tropical Storm Barry cuts 73% of US offshore oil production, federal agency says

Little impact on oil prices expected from Tropical Storm Barry?

Louisiana Oil and Gas Association President Gifford Briggs on the potential impact of Tropical Storm Barry on the oil market.

Tropical Storm Barry has cut more than 70 percent of crude oil production in the U.S. portion of the Gulf of Mexico, a federal agency said Sunday.

The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) said about 73 percent of current oil production in the area has been shut-in, a figure that equates to 1.38 million barrels of oil per day, due to the effects of Barry, which made landfall on Saturday.

The storm also cut nearly 62 percent of natural gas production in the Gulf region, according to the BSEE.

Meanwhile, personnel have been evacuated from 283 production platforms, or 42.3 percent of the 669 manned platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, the BSEE said, citing data from offshore operator reports. Production platforms, or offshore structures where oil and natural gas are produced, stay at the site of the project and thus differ from drilling rigs, which move to different locations.

Personnel have been evacuated from 10 rigs (non-dynamically positioned “DP” rigs), nearly half of the rigs of the type currently operating in the Gulf region, according to the BSEE.

The storm made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane at Intercostal City, Louisiana on Saturday. Shortly thereafter it was downgraded to a tropical storm, and is projected to head northward over the northwestern portion of Louisiana, with “life-threatening flash flooding” continuing into Monday, the National Hurricane Center said.